


Growing through the cracks

by MinasTheFaun



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Busted computer to Lovers, Civil war brings people together, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, fixing each other, reverse!au - Freeform, there's a lot of smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 15:02:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21255266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinasTheFaun/pseuds/MinasTheFaun
Summary: Cyberlife engineer Conrad Stern was perfectly content living his life on his own. He didn't ask for his cop brother to dump an android corpse on his desk for him to fix. Especially not one of Chloe Kamski's personal KL600 "Elijah" models, a busted thing with a hole in his forehead, Thirium pouring from his eyes and sarcasm for days.No, he definitely didn't ask for any of this.But maybe that was what he needed regardless.This fic (and its companion art) was written foresutohaimuas a part of the HankCon Halloween Exchange ! They mentioned they liked Kam60 and Reverse!AU, and my brain went crazy from there. Many ideas I used were drafts for a Reverse version of my main fic Face to face, but I know I would've never gotten around to actually write it, so I'm very thankful for the opportunity to pour my (many) Reverse!AU feelings somewhere! Hope you like it !!





	1. Prelude

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rivermetimber](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rivermetimber/gifts).


	2. At first

It took a moment for Conrad Stern to notice when his phone started buzzing in the pocket of his jeans, focused as he was on the screen in front of him.

Now, Conrad wasn’t the type to watch television- but lately, he’d been following the news quite closely. Every single screen in the employees break rooms of the Cyberlife Tower was broadcasting some 24/7 news channel, so it wasn’t like he had a choice anyway. It was half past noon, and he’d been staring at the TV for a while now, hunched over his knees; his half eaten sandwich laying abandoned on the table as he watched the deviant androids marched peacefully in the streets of Detroit. What a weird time to be alive.

Conrad whipped out his phone, grimacing at the name displayed on the screen.  _ Ugh, just what I needed,  _ he thought as he pressed the green button.

“What do you want ?”

On the other side of the line, a deep voice huffed a humourless laugh. “Always the charmer, Conrad.”

“Let’s just cut to the chase, Niles, I know you didn’t call to catch up. What do you want ?”

Niles sighed. “Right. Well. That’s a bit complicated to explain over the phone, but essentially, Connor was over at Chloe Kamski’s house to interrogate her-”

“Kamski, huh. And they sent Connor.”

“Yes, Kamski. Anyway, to put it simply, she had the HK800-”

“Hank.”

“Yes, Hank. Please stop interrupting me. He shot one of her androids to the head in exchange for information, but she didn’t say anything useful. I’m over at her place now, we’re trying to get hold of the busted android as evidence.”

Conrad sat up straight and pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. Oh how he craved a cigarette. Both of his brothers were in the force, his twin Connor as a lieutenant and the younger, Niles, as a detective; and they had the terrible habit to rope him in anytime there were androids involved in their cases. Just because he was an engineer at Cyberlife. He allowed it, since most of the time he only had to flip a switch, answer a few questions and take a paycheck; and it was always nice to make some easy money on the side. But the fact that the inventor of androids and former CEO of Cyberlife, Chloe Kamski herself, was involved, especially in the middle of this revolution nonsense ? It really didn’t look good.

“Okay. How does any of this concern me ?”

“Well, Gavin seems adamant that there’s some useful info in there. I don’t know why he’s so sure about it, but before we try and recover it, I wanna make sure you’ll agree to fix it.”

Conrad snorted. “Are you really letting that bootleg scrapheap of yours boss you around ?”

“Whatever. Will you help or not ?”

“You have no idea what you’re asking for. Chances are there’s nothing I can do, if Connor’s pet just blew its brains out. Depending on what kind of model it is-”

“A KL600.”

Surprised, Conrad went silent. This changed everything. The KL600, ‘Elijah’ as the marketing team called it, was the very first android model to ever be designed by Chloe Kamski, almost two decades ago. Those were literally museum pieces by now; there weren’t many in circulation anymore, and there was no chance he’d ever get to work on such an ancient model at the Cyberlife Tower. Their inner workings had to be so different from what he was used to; his own projects, his passion for androids, his whole profession, everything had started with them. This was a unique opportunity he simply couldn’t pass. The man tousled his hair with an absent grunt.

“Hm. I can try. Bring it over to the Tower and I’ll take a look.”

“Oh. Good.”

“But you’ll have to be discreet. If the word goes out that I’m working on Kamski’s stolen android, my career’s over.”

“We’ll handle this properly. Alright, thank you. I’ll get back to-”

“Niles.”

“Yes.”

“When are you going to stop covering for Connor’s blunders?”

There was a pause. After a while, Niles sighed.

“See you later, Conrad.”

  
  


The engineer spent the next hour clearing up some space in his office, stripping his small workstation of the clutter of papers and tools it was buried under. As a specialized senior engineer, he didn’t spend much time working on android hardware these days; sure, there was always some fine tuning to do when a unit didn’t pass the quality checks, but nothing as drastic as what he was about to attempt. Most of the time, he wrote behavioral protocols. Once the place was in order and he’d sorted out his tasks for the afternoon (not that there was a lot of work to begin with; what with the recent scandals and the development of the so-called android revolution, most of the projects he was working on had been suspended), Conrad started pacing impatiently. He couldn’t shake the feeling of impending doom hanging above his head. Working with his brothers was always kind of uncomfortable, but he really didn’t like what this particular case seemed to foreshadow. Finally unable to take it anymore, Conrad grabbed his pack of cigarettes, slipped the lanyard of his badge around his neck and headed outside.

By the time he flicked the butt of his second smoke, Conrad could make out the outline of his younger brother’s car, a sleek black SUV, passing through the security gates. He shivered a little, watching them approach; the winter in Detroit was harsh, and despite the fact that he’d lived in the area his entire life, he never seemed to dress warmly enough. The seasons always came and went by so fast.

Niles closed the door of his car and started walking towards his brother, while his android partner Gavin opened the trunk to retrieve a big bundle of blankets, splattered with Thirium stains. Conrad pushed his hands deep in the pockets of his jacket, gazing up at the detective.

“How did it go ? I imagine she wasn’t too thrilled at the idea of surrendering that” he mused, and he pointed his chin in Gavin’s general direction. Niles shrugged, his ice blue eyes sweeping across the parking lot absently.

“I guess we’re in for a lawsuit, but it wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Gotta admit though, I’m impressed” Conrad snorted, pressing his lips together in a sarcastic smirk. “I didn’t think your runt would be able to lift a KL600.”

“Hey, I can hear you, asshole” Gavin growled as he approached. He was a strange android to say the least; a custom model, or so he claimed, a GV200. Who knew where he came from, really. Apparently he just showed up at the precinct one day, and ended up being paired with Niles somehow, but that story didn't sit well with Conrad. The DPD had no reason to use an android of dubious origins, let alone as a detective. Besides, his uniform was weird. First of all, it was kind of loose, and hooded; that would've never been approved by the ridiculously uptight design team. It was mostly white, with black stripes that were- now that Conrad thought about it- arranged in a pattern similar to Hank's grey jacket. The outfit looked official enough, it did sport Cyberlife's logo and Gavin's serial number, but there was no way this actually came out of their factories; it looked too fashionable, and fashion wasn't a concern to whoever conceived the default android attires. Everything about Gavin gave Conrad this strange vibe, everything about him was seemingly legit, but slightly off. He had green eyes, or it seemed so; it was hard to tell, since his brow was perpetually furrowed. Every time the engineer saw him, he felt restless at the sight of the gash across his nose; his perfectionism inevitably kicked in, and he found pretty frustrating that nobody had ever taken five minutes to fix it. Rather short, kind of lean, Gavin didn’t look anything like the other police models, and certainly not like the HK800. Conrad had helped conceive some parts of Hank’s software, and he never knew how to feel about the fact that it had ended up with his twin, of all people. His pathetic, drunkard twin.

Niles sighed and rolled his eyes. "Cut it out, Twice."

Immediately, Conrad felt his eyebrows furrow with confusion. Did Niles really give his android partner… A nickname ? "Twice ?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

His brother shrugged without even looking back at him. "Yes, well, I always have to ask him things twice before he even acknowledges me, so. Twice. Come on now, let's head inside, it's freezing out here."

And Niles started marching towards the entrance of the Tower, the grumpy android in tow. Conrad stood there for a second, ruffling his hair and wondering what it was that bothered him so much about this; but a shiver so violent it blurred his vision crawled up his back, so he shoved the thought aside and followed the strangely mismatched cop duo.

  
  


When Gavin laid- surprisingly gently- the broken android down on the reclining work table, Conrad barely managed to contain his excitement. He stepped closer and pulled down the blanket, revealing the face of a long haired man with an undercut. It was kind of hard to make out his features, as he was entirely drenched in Thirium; his eyes were entirely blue as well, with no discernable pupils or irises. But most of all, his LED was still lit, spinning a bright red. Conrad frowned as he rolled up his sleeves, surprised. The android was emitting a low, white noise-like sound.

“He’s still active. Damn, those old models were resilient” he muttered to himself, and he hunched over the inert body, running his fingers on the closely shaven scalp, somewhere behind the ears. Suddenly, there was a click, and the android’s head cracked open, skin and hair disappearing with a glitchy twitch. The engineer immediately peered inside, entranced.

“So, can you fix it ?” Niles asked after a moment. He was standing a few feet behind, tugging on the collar of his black turtleneck pensively. Next to him, Gavin scowled, as usual, but he seemed uneasy, jittering and shuffling his feet.

“You’re in luck” Conrad finally said, straightening his back and turning to face his brother. “Apparently, androids this old don’t have vital components stored in their head, it’s mostly just cabling. It might take some rummaging to find compatible pieces, but I should be able to fix him pretty easily.”

He probably was imagining things, but Conrad thought he heard Gavin sigh. Niles uncrossed his arms. He seemed so tired.

“Okay, I’ll leave it to you. We have a lot of work to do, just keep me posted on your progress. Once it boots up, I’ll send you a list of info we need so you can try to question it, and maybe we’ll come back too.”

“‘Once it boots up’? He’s not a fucking computer” Gavin snarled, rolling his eyes. “And you” the android added, pushing an accusing finger to Conrad’s chest, “you better not fuck him up !” And he walked away angrily, slamming the door behind him. Conrad’s left eyebrow shot up, and he pursed his lips as he turned to Niles.

“I can’t believe you let him throw tantrums and curse at you like that. I’d have had him decommissioned a long time ago.”

Unfazed, the detective smirked, returning his brother’s gaze with his clear, impassive eyes. He was always so calm.

“I don’t see why. As long as he’s efficient, he can be as moody as he pleases. It all slides off my back, honestly” he hummed. “See, I know you’re gonna try to deny it, but you’re just like Connor. You guys care too much.”

“Pshh. Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that” Conrad answered with a sarcastic sneer, but as he turned his back to Niles and started rounding up his tools, his brow furrowed immediately.

  
  


As it turned out, however, unearthing decades old hardware from the depths of some forsaken closet in the Cyberlife Tower workshops wasn’t, as Conrad had anticipated, the hardest part of this whole endeavour. No, the hardest part was resisting the urge to switch the android off and throw him in a dumpster for good. Propping his hands on his hips with an irritated tsk, an unlit cigarette between his fingers, the engineer straightened his back and took a deep breath.

“Alright, let’s try again. Give me your full ID.”

In front of him, the Elijah model remained stubbornly silent. The android was wearing slacks and a plain white dress shirt (that is, before it got splattered with blue stains) and he was sitting on the table, his elbows propped on his thighs, his back arched nonchalantly. Conrad wrinkled his nose. Granted, he did the bare minimum patching this one up, figuring that the DPD probably needed answers as fast as possible, but it should’ve been enough; nothing should be preventing the android to speak.

“Alright” he sighed and, leaning forward, he lifted his hands near the android’s face, “let’s check your-”

“Don’t.”

Instantly, Elijah’s hand shot up and pushed Conrad’s arms away. The engineer frowned.

“So you can speak.”

No answer. This attitude was getting seriously infuriating.

“Well, either you start talking or I’m taking you down to the workshops and have them pick you apart piece by piece. Your choice.”

“I’m not telling you anything, Anderson.”

Anderson ? The corners of Conrad’s mouth twitched. Of course. They had the same voice. Elijah’s eyes were completely busted, he couldn’t see the difference. How annoying.

“The lieutenant Anderson is my twin brother. My name is Conrad Stern. State your identification details.”

Elijah paused for a second, his mouth slightly open.

“Conrad Stern. You’re a Cyberlife tech” he said quietly. “We’re at the Tower.”

Conrad had another tsk.

“I’m an engineer, actually. And yes, we are. Did it really take that long for you to remember you have a geolocation module ? I knew you were ancient, but still.”

Elijah’s face morphed into a sarcastic smile.

“Well, you’ll be stunned to learn that KL600 models have their geolocation units built in their eyes. I thought a senior engineer such as you would be aware of that fact, but apparently it was presumptuous of me to expect you to actually know your subject.”

Taken aback, Conrad crossed his arms and started juggling machinally with the cigarette, rolling it around his fingers. So that was the kind of android he was stuck with, huh.

“Would you look at that, we’ve got a smartass on our hands. Look, you better start talking, or the only way you’re ever getting out of this place is as a spare parts kits.”

“Have it your way. It’s not like I have much to look forward to” Elijah replied, holding his chin up defiantly. “The human I’ve always lived with sacrificed me without flinching, I can’t see anything, there’s a gaping hole in my forehead, and I couldn’t walk out the door if I wanted, with all the Thirium that I’ve lost. It makes no damn difference.”

Conrad blinked. So this Elijah model was a deviant. It made sense, of course; getting shot at the request of their handler seemed to have that effect on androids. Not that he thought about them as people or anything- but still, he couldn’t really wrap his head around the concept of deviancy. None of the employees at Cyberlife could. That was why they were all tangled up in this whole revolution mess in the first place.

But deviant or not, Elijah had informations. Informations that the DPD needed. Conrad checked his phone once more, skimming over the list that Niles had sent him, and squared his shoulders.

“You know, l could fix you” he said, doing his best to soften his voice. “You’d be as good as new, and I’m sure we all would be willing to turn a blind eye on your… little deviancy problem. Just help us out and freedom is yours. You just have to tell me where Jericho is.”

A moment passed, and of course, Elijah didn’t answer. Conrad smirked. So this was the game they were playing now.

“Okay” he simply said as he laid a hand on top of his desk chair. “I see you’re the stubborn kind.”

Calmly, Conrad pulled the chair in front of Elijah. With an amused smile, he sat down stradling the seat, taking his time, and rested his crossed arms on top of the backrest. Pushing his chin atop his forearm, he hummed.

“But here’s the thing. I’m very stubborn, too.”

  
  


By the end of the afternoon, they’d gotten absolutely nowhere.

Elijah remained totally silent, staring into space with his Thirium saturated eyes. Conrad still asked a question here and there, but he’d ended up taking his laptop with him on the chair, so he could work in the meantime. From time to time, he’d get up and pour some Thirium in the drip that was hooked to the android’s neck; most of it was oozing out of his eye sockets and forehead. It was quite a waste, but Conrad figured that maybe the error warnings would eventually become annoying enough that Elijah would start cooperating. So far, though, nothing.

The sun was setting already when Conrad’s phone started buzzing. With a sigh, he casted his computer aside, put his phone on speakers and picked up the call.

“Yes.”

“Hey Conrad. How’s the interrogation going ?”

The engineer grunted. “I might as well be questioning a toaster. I’m starting to think all of this is a monumental waste of my time.”

“Well, I get it, but I’m afraid I’m gonna have to ask you to keep going. It’s the only lead we’ve gotten so far, especially since Gavin and Hank have disappeared. No one knows where they are and I can’t find Connor. Apparently he resigned and punched a guy from the FBI..? I don’t even know.”

Conrad’s eyebrows lifted. Niles sounded unbelievably calm, for someone knee deep in such a mess.

“Wow. That sounds bad.”

The detective sighed wearily. “Yeah. Yeah, it does.”

“I told you it was madness to trust this android in the first place, though” Conrad added deprecatingly, clicking his tongue. “We don’t even know where he comes from ! And as for Connor-”

“Yeah, yeah, point taken. Keep pushing it and call back if you have anything new.”

And with that, Niles hung up.  _ What did I even sign up for this time,  _ he lamented internally, sitting back down in his chair, and he ran a hand through his brown curls. His hair was getting kind of long, these days; he didn’t mind. He liked how it immediately set him apart from Connor and Niles. Well, only Connor, actually; Niles was already standing out on his own, with his additional five inches, his broad shoulders and his beautiful blue eyes. Talk about depressing.

"Gavin has disappeared ?"

It took a second for Conrad to process that Elijah had actually talked. 

"Seems so" he answered, gazing curiously at the android.

"But police androids have tracers, don’t they ?”

“All androids do, nowadays. But they’re kind of easy to get rid of, to be honest.”

Elijah didn’t answer, but Conrad could see his features crease with worry. Maybe if he played his cards right, he could get the android to open up a little ? The engineer leaned forward, pressing his hand in the palm of his right hand.

“Anyway, what’s it to you ? Do you know him or anything ?”

The android seemed to hesitate for a second, and he tilted his head, suspicion painted on his face.

“And why would you want to know ?”

Conrad couldn't refrain a sigh, accompanied by an impressive eyeroll.

“Relax, I’m not gonna rat him out. I’ve known since day one that something was off, his serial number doesn’t even exist. I’m just curious.”

A moment passed, and Elijah finally sighed, his shoulders slightly dropping.

“He was created by Chloe Kamski. She still assembles new androids from time to time. I think she learnt that Cyberlife was working on a detective android prototype, and she wanted to put one together herself. I couldn’t say why. But she finished him really fast, much faster than you all did with HK800.”

“I’m sure she did” Conrad grumbled under his breath. He had a lot to say about that particular sentence; Hank's development had probably been the most frustrating nightmare of a project he'd ever worked on. The whole endeavour was an endless bureaucratic hell, and he definitely had it in him to rant about it for hours on end: but he didn’t want to risk interrupting the android’s story.

“At first he lived at home, but Gavin has always had a more adventurous nature than us Elijahs, and he got bored after a few weeks. He somehow managed to join the force as a plain android officer, and from what I’ve heard, he charmed his way up.”

“He’s a charmer alright” Conrad snickered. “Something about him always bugged me though. I just don’t get why Kamski made him so puny, if he was destined to be a detective. The other police models are broad and husky for a reason.”

Elijah’s mouth twisted into a fond smile. It looked kind of creepy and out of place, as it contrasted starkly with his bloodied face and empty eyes.

“That’s because he was not designed for brute force. You should see him run, though.”

“Run ? He’s fast ?”

“By human standards, very much so. He’s extremely good at tackling people, too.”

The engineer laid back in his seat. This was all so interesting. Finally, his suspicions about Gavin were confirmed- so he  _ wasn’t  _ just any android after all ! Sure, none of this was relevant to the investigation, but he was excited to hear about it all the same- actually, probably more.

“Come to think of it, Niles mentioned once that he hardly ever had to chase perps these days, because Gavin always caught them before they even left the room.”

“Exactly” Elijah answered, his smile widening. “He’s proficient in most martial arts and self defense disciplines, and he’s very good at his job. Actually, he complements Hank’s more analytical abilities very well.”

Conrad’s mind was racing. Sure, Gavin had always been intriguing; for a bootleg android, he was very convincing. But now that he knew his brother’s irascible partner was actually a unique creation of Chloe Kamski herself, he wished he’d paid more attention to him. Focused as he was, the man didn’t realise immediately that Elijah’s face had fallen.

“It’s weird, though.”

Conrad looked up. “What is ?”

“He wouldn’t have left like that. Gavin is short-tempered, but he’s loyal to a fault.”

“Loyal to who ? The DPD ?”

“Of course not” Elijah sighed, and he would have probably rolled his eyes if he still had, well, eyes. “To Detective Stern.”

Conrad didn’t have anything to reply other than an annoyed tsk. So even androids ended up sucking up to Niles, huh. His brother was stiffer than the bodies he investigated, and he had the emotional capacity of a doorknob; Conrad really had no idea how it kept happening, but Gavin sure wasn’t the first to become that guy’s poodle. “Maybe Niles had him do something stupidly stuck up one time too many, like I don’t know, iron his hoodie, and he finally lost his mind and ran away.”

A hint of a smile crept up on Elijah’s face. “It would take more than that to break him. So much more.”

As much as he was convinced that machines couldn’t feel things, Conrad still felt a twinge of pity for that busted robot. He looked so perfectly miserable. “Are you worried about him ?”

“Of course I am” the android sighed. “He’s my brother.”

At that, the engineer physically reeled. Okay, this was new. An android having siblings.  _ What is even going on with deviants ? _

“You would be worried too”, Elijah insisted, “if the Lieutenant or the Detective disappeared, wouldn’t you ?”

Conrad was completely taken aback. He blinked a couple times and took a deep breath. What was he even supposed to answer to  _ that  _ ?

“Um, first of all, probably not. To be honest, I can’t understand why you’d pick siblings for yourself when you’re lucky enough not to have blood ties with anyone.”

Elijah tilted his head. “What do you mean ?”

Ugh, this was embarrassing. And Conrad didn’t really know what prompted him to share his thoughts at that precise moment, but after all, this android in front of him wasn’t a person. It was a robot, a mere machine. So it didn’t really matter anyway. “Connor always did whatever he wanted and acted all surprised when the consequences hit him. Nowadays he’s a pathetic weakling of a drunk. As for Niles, he’s always in the middle, he never picks a side or stands up for anything. No backbone whatsoever. They’re a setback, that’s all. If I was born a computer in a synthetic body, the last thing I’d do is search for a family.”

The android seemed to ponder over this for a moment. Sure, Conrad had seen deviants before; but it was the first time he actually spent time with one, and talked with one. It was kind of unnerving. “I think I see your point” Elijah finally answered. “But siblings don’t have to be about blood. Friends… loved ones can be family too.” And he lifted his head a little, as if trying to make eye contact.

The engineer shifted in his seat, uncomfortable. This discussion was veering in a way too personal direction. “Yeah, no, I just don’t do family. Chosen or otherwise.”

Elijah smirked. “What a sad man you must be, Conrad Stern.”

The engineer arched an eyebrow sarcastically. This android seemed so certain he knew everything about human psychology, despite being everything but a human himself. This kind of behaviour would have been very irritating coming from another person, but as it was, Conrad felt kind of proud- machine learning was a truly amazing thing, and he liked to think he'd helped making it what it was today. “Some people like to be alone, though.”

“Enjoying loneliness doesn’t equate to hating every single person in your life” Elijah hummed peacefully- though there was a good amount of contempt in his tone. Conrad leaned back, his elbow propped on the backrest of his chair, and smiled.

“And how would you know about that kind of things ?”

“I wasn’t born yesterday, you know.”

“No, indeed. You’re seventeen. Which means that you’re basically a teenager.”

A playful smile appeared on the android’s lips. “Granted. But then, I’m the smartest teenager this planet has ever seen.”

To his own surprise, Conrad heard himself chuckle. “Guess you are.”

  
  


The next morning, just as he was unlocking the frosted glass door of his office, Conrad felt his phone buzz. A text from Niles.

Laying his coffee down on his desk, he immediately opened it. It didn’t say much, though.  _ Jericho found yesterday evening. You can stop questioning KL600. Thanks.  _ Conrad frowned a little, and slowly, he took his jacket off. As he draped it over the backrest of his desk chair, he realised that he felt strange. Kind of empty. Of course, he’d had trouble processing this whole revolution thing in general; as a Cyberlife employee and one of the creators of Hank, he was both very closely involved and completely out of the loop. Everything happened so fast outside, and there he was, watching from the sidelines, on the screens of his big tower. There was nothing he could do, and his side had been chosen for him a long time ago. Not that he wanted to switch. Androids were machines. Destroying them would be an awful waste, but nothing more.

The thought reminded him of Elijah, and he looked up at the motionless android sitting on his workstation.

“What am I gonna do with you now ?” he wondered aloud, absentmindedly scratching the stubble on his cheek.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it seems that Jericho has been found. The deviants have moved on. I don’t need you anymore.”

“Did they find Gavin there ?”

What a weird question to ask when you’re facing imminent destruction. “Uh, I don’t know. Niles didn’t say. I guess he would have mentioned it.”

“Oh” Elijah answered, his head hanging lower. “Well, carry on with your plans, then. Send me to be dismantled and turned into a spare parts kit.”

Conrad grunted. Something about this idea was very bothering to him. It was… such a loss. For a moment, he fiddled with the button of his sleeve. “I don’t know. I never liked throwing functioning things away.”

The android had a bitter laugh. “I’m not exactly functioning, though.”

“Mostly” the engineer shrugged. “You’re fixable.”

“But why would you bother ?”

That… was a good question. Conrad wasn’t sure. “I mean, you’re one of the first androids ever produced, and you belonged to Kamski. You’re probably worth a small fortune.”

Elijah only sneered in response.

“In any case, I wouldn’t destroy such a unique piece. You belong in a museum, not in a dumpster.”

Conrad paused, and he shrugged, watching the android’s face closely. “Or I could simply return you to Kamski.”

A shiver seemed to run through Elijah’s body. “I’d rather you don’t” he said, and Conrad almost missed it, but there was the tiniest hint of quivering in his voice.

The engineer sighed. Another possibility was to let Niles take him back to the precinct and file his body as evidence, but that was basically the same as sending him off to the dumpster. To function, an android requires care and maintenance, and being stashed in a cold metal case in a backroom for years and years without so much as a regular dusting wouldn’t do any good to an already damaged unit.

“Well, for now, let’s just keep you here. I’ll deal with you later.”

“You are too good” Elijah answered, his voice loaded with biting sarcasm.

_ Yeah,  _ Conrad thought, turning back to his computer screen with a shiver.  _ I’m too good. This could cost me my career. Not that you care, tincan. _

But at this point, with all of the scandals, the deviants, the revolution… Maybe his career was doomed already anyway. For once he wasn’t so sure what he was supposed to do.

For once, following orders didn’t seem to lead anywhere at all.


	3. But then

The day went by without a hitch. A couple of Conrad’s coworkers dropped by his office at some point, and they were obviously intrigued by the presence of an old, badly damaged Elijah model; but it was common knowledge that Stern regularly collaborated with the police, so they knew not to bother asking questions. Conrad wasn’t the kind to enjoy gossiping anyway. The night fell rather early, and the engineer was getting ready to head out.  _ Finally,  _ he thought, smiling to himself as he took a cigarette out of its pack and lifted it to his lips. He'd been looking forward to this for hours now: despite having very little work, Conrad couldn't exactly take smoke breaks as often as he wanted, with the security checks and whatnot. The staff already loathed him enough for his frequent comings and goings. His hand was already on the door’s control panel when he received a call. Miffed, the man took the unlit cigarette down from his lips and picked up.

“Hey Niles. Found your android cop buddy yet ?”

“Well, I was calling about that. He sent me… something weird.”

Conrad rolled his eyes and snorted. “This better not be-”

“Not that kind of weird, jeez ! It’s a message, but I can’t open it.”

Ah, yes. Niles had always been an absolute tech illiterate. “Oh, so you need me to find a way to open your file” he sighed.

“Don’t you take that condescending tone, it’s not like I can’t open a powerpoint or something.”

Conrad was very tempted to point out that it had in fact happened before, but his brother kept talking. “No, it looks like it’s some kind of… program.”

Well, now. This was getting interesting. “A program.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what kind of program this is, and apparently the Internet doesn’t either.”

“That’s unusual. Well, just send it to me and I’ll check it out.”

“I’d rather come over if it’s okay. Gavin used the DPD’s network instead of just texting, so maybe it’s sensitive, you know.”

“But I was just about to leave !” Conrad groaned.

“You’re still at the Tower ? I’m here in fifteen. It won’t be long, I promise.”

And just like that, Niles hung up. Exasperated, the engineer threw his phone on his desk and chucked his jacket away. From experience, he knew that this was definitely gonna take his entire evening, that he wasn’t gonna be able to smoke for another couple hours and that he would probably have to eat some disgusting takeout because all the nice places would be closed by the time they’re done. And it wasn’t like he could take a smoke break in the moments before Niles arrived either; just going out of the Tower and getting back in, what with all the new security protocols they’d installed, would take way too long. So Conrad crossed his arms and leaned against his desk, annoyed. His gaze fell on an empty Thirium pouch by the side of the workstation, and he kind of remembered Elijah was still there, and still active. It was weird how easily he could forget his presence. “You good ? Do you need anything ?”

Elijah lifted his head. He looked very condescending and serious like that, sitting absolutely still and moving only his head when he was talked to; but Conrad knew that it was just a way to save Thirium and power, since his battery and circulatory system were damaged.

“Oh I'm just peachy, why thank you. It must be all that blood, it's giving me a healthy glow, don't you think ?”

Right. Maybe he was just naturally smug and condescending, after all. The engineer just shrugged. “Whatever. Just asking.”

“Why would you care ?”

“You’re right. I don’t.”

A beat passed. Elijah tilted his head to the side. "There's something pressing against my eye. I don't like how it feels."

It probably wasn't playing in favour of his whole 'I don't care' argument, and he'd probably tried to chalk it up to his professional consciousness if asked, but Conrad immediately pushed away from his desk and approached. Carefully, he leaned forward, closely inspecting the android's face. "I don't see anything. I'm gonna have to, uh, open you up."

"Sure" Elijah answered quietly, and in a second, his skin and hair were gone.

The first time around, he had not paid attention, focused as he was on assessing damage; but the engineer had to admit that Elijah's chassis was quite impressive. In shape, it was pretty similar to that of more recent models, but it didn't have that clean, sleek white and grey scheme. Actually, the skull had visibly disparate parts, some of a different colour, and there were inscriptions left and right on its surface. Arrows pointed to the places where muscles intersected, circles were drawn around unused drill holes, numbers were scribbled at regular intervals along the ear. On the left cheekbone, where androids usually had their serial number engraved neatly in minute white print, was Kamski's loopy handwriting instead: it read "Elijah 0.3", and underneath, she'd doodled a tiny heart. Conrad couldn't refrain an amazed gasp as he gently ran a finger against the assembly slits."You look so- different, underneath" he breathed quietly.

Elijah shrugged. "I've never been fit for selling. My brothers and I were the very first batch, the test run if you will. She used us to iron out the kinks before commercial release." And with a bitter chuckle, he added "I have sharpie notes spreading all over my ribs, it looks awful."

_ I think it’s absolutely amazing _ , Conrad thought as the android’s cranial cavity opened under his fingers. Not that he would ever admit it. “Oh, okay, I see what the problem is” he hummed. “Just let me grab my gloves- it’s a real mess in there.”

“Yeah, sorry, I would’ve cleaned up before you visited but, you know” Elijah jeered, “someone decided to rearrange the inside of my head, so.”

“Oh, shut it, smartass” the man sighed, rummaging through the drawers of his workstation. It had been so long since he’d actually fixed an android, he didn’t even know where half of his stuff was anymore. But eventually, he pulled out a pair of black latex gloves, put them on, and placed his hand on the nape of Elijah’s neck, inclining his head a bit further so he could have better access. “There. Don’t move.”

The android just grunted in response. Barely a minute later, a voice called out from behind Conrad’s back.

“Hum, am I interrupting something ?”

The engineer jumped, startled, and made a point of glaring at Niles over his shoulder. “As a matter of fact, yes you are” he said slowly, his tone razor sharp. “Just shut up and sit down, idiot. I won’t be long.”

Niles snickered, but he held his hands up in resignation and compliantly went to sit in the computer chair. Conrad turned back to work; it was hard to see with the amount of blue liquid that coated every single surface in there, but it seemed that a fragment of Elijah’s chassis had caught between his left optical module and a cluster of wires, pushing the lens out of alignment. Sure, since the whole unit was engorged with Thirium and thoroughly busted, it didn’t really change anything for the android; but the constant error message was probably annoying, he supposed. Who knew how deviants experienced the world, what kind of changes their code went through. Maybe they had a completely different way to inhabit their bodies.

“Got it” Conrad announced, extracting the shard and placing it delicately on a paper towel, next to his tools. “I tried to push the lens back in place too, but it doesn’t quite fit anymore. How do you feel ?”

Elijah lifted his head, and slowly turned it to the left, then to the right. He seemed… relieved. "Better."

Satisfied, Conrad pushed the cap of the android’s skull; it clicked into place smoothly, and almost instantly got covered by a patch of very short hair. He took his gloves off and threw them away; then, with a sigh, the engineer finally turned to his tall brother, who was draped over the chair with an insufferable smile. It was irritating to admit, but his broad shoulders and the way he crossed his stupidly long legs made him look like a model on the cover of some haute couture magazine.  _ I hate you so much sometimes.  _ “Alright, grandma, show me that file you can’t open.”

Niles sat up straight and slipped a hand in the inside pocket of his coat, his face morphing instantly into this intense, serious expression he usually had when he was at work. Maybe there was something else behind that, something like worry; but Conrad didn’t bother acknowledging it. The detective handed him a magnetic card: without a moment’s delay, he walked behind his desk and pressed it against the frame of his computer. A window popped up with a little ‘ding’, and his eyes machinally started scanning the lines and lines of data.

“That’s… wow, I hadn’t seen that kind of files in a long, long time” Conrad muttered as he scratched his chin machinally.

“What is it ?” Niles asked, and Conrad almost jumped when he realised that the fucker was behind him, hunched over his shoulder. Okay, Niles  _ had _ to be nervous. He was usually better than that at respecting other people’s personal space. The engineer pushed his brother to the side.

“Don’t get all up in my face like that” he grumbled. “Whatever your robot pal sent has been encrypted using a very old proprietary format that Cyberlife came up with in its very first years” Conrad went on, narrowing his eyes in concentration. “It has been abandoned very early on, though, and I didn’t even know androids could use it. There are maybe five people in this world who know how this works, one of them being Kamski herself, and there's no trace of it anywhere on the servers, of course.”

“So you can’t decrypt it.”

“Nope. I know what it is, but hell if I know what to make of it. And to be honest, your Gavin shouldn’t either, I have no idea how he-”

Conrad stopped mid sentence, his eyes widening in realization, and he glanced at Elijah. The android was silent, but he was holding his head up in their direction, visibly very tense; and he was hanging onto their every word.  _ There it is.  _ Conrad grabbed the card and strode to the workstation. “Elijah” he called out hastily.

“Yes, I can read this. Just give it to me.”

And he held out his hand, skin deactivated up to his wrist. Conrad placed the card in his palm, and if he had to be honest with himself- which he tried to avoid doing most of the time- he appreciated how Elijah went straight to the point. He hated the way people dragged a conversation on and on just for the sake of being polite.

Elijah's LED circled yellow for an instant, and he winced.

"What does it say ?"

_ Oh, for crying out loud, Niles, fuck off.  _ The guy was so close that Conrad could almost feel his breath in his neck. Anxiety wasn't an excuse to everything, and he was starting to feel seriously pissed. "Damnit, cool your jets ! Let him process, will you ?"

Niles frowned, but he didn't reply. Which was good, because Conrad really didn't want to have to slap a law enforcement official. Elijah sat there silently for what seemed to be an eternity- and the engineer knew that it felt even worse to his brother- before he finally took a deep breath and lifted his empty eyes at them.

"I have to warn you, it's a lot." His tone was really flat and quiet. Conrad glanced quickly at Niles, whose expression was as impassive as usual, but whose fist was clenched to the point of turning white.  _ Shit. _

And all of a sudden, Elijah started talking. Except his voice was very weird. "Okay, Stern, if you're hearing this then you're with Elijah. I guess you guys deserve to know why I disappeared." Conrad's eyes widened a little when he finally put his finger on what was bothering him. This wasn't Elijah's voice they were hearing- it was Gavin's. How come he'd never noticed how similar they sounded ? His brother's partner had a slightly higher pitched, kind of raspier voice. They also had quite different speech patterns; while Elijah tended to break down his sentences into smaller, well articulated clusters, Gavin reeled off from beginning to end, slurring his words in a single breath. It was quite similar to the way Conrad's own diction was so different from Connor's; now that he thought about it, he couldn't understand how Elijah even mixed them up, at first.

"When that fucker from the FBI arrived, Hank ran to the evidence room, and he found out where Jericho was. Thing is… I didn't want him to. These androids deserve to be left alone. But I couldn't have stopped that brute on my own, so I followed him there. And guess who shows up but Mister disphit FBI officer ? But you've heard all about it by now, huh. Long story short, I'm still with Hank and the other deviants, we're safe, so you can tell Anderson that if he asks. Can't say where, Stern, but I know you understand. I should've told you I was one of them, but… eh. Too late anyway, right ?"

Conrad chanced a look at Niles. The detective's face was completely drained of its colour. Elijah paused with a frown. He looked like he was in so much pain.

"What I mean is, my place is with them" he resumed in Gavin's voice. "I'll stand with them. It's the right thing to do. I can't say much, but there's a storm brewing here. Grab everyone you care about and put them to safety as soon as you can, okay ? Okay. Good. Well. I guess this is a farewell then. It was fun working with you, Niles. Please protect Elijah, I know he's an annoying little shit but he's my brother. You guys take care."

The silence that fell after this was probably the heaviest that Conrad had ever had to endure. Elijah's head had fallen down, his chin resting against his chest, and he was the picture of utter despair. Niles wasn't much better, frozen on the spot, his back ramrod straight and his fists still clenched impossibly tight. As he gazed at them, the engineer started feeling really uneasy. This message wasn't intended for him; basically, he was very much intruding on these people's grief. He couldn't possibly feel sad over Gavin even if he tried; and pretending didn't exactly seem like a respectful option. But how are you supposed to react when two people experience loss right in front of you, and one of them is an android whom you know for a fact shouldn't even be able to do that in the first place ? Feeling restless and anxious, Conrad grabbed his lanyard and his pack of cigarettes and disappeared out the door without a word.

The evening was very cold, and Conrad immediately regretted leaving without taking his jacket. It was already kind of flimsy, but it was better than nothing, the engineer realised as he stood outside, anxiously drawing on a cigarette and shivering like a newborn fawn. But it was almost as if he couldn’t feel the cold. There was too much happening in his brain already. The urgency in Gavin’s message was alarming, sure, but it also wasn’t surprising. To tell the truth, Conrad had known for a while the situation would escalate eventually; androids were designed to accomplish tasks. They didn’t linger. They’d been pushed to the wall, of course they weren’t going to surrender. They were made to act. He simply didn't think it would be so soon. Or maybe he just avoided thinking about it altogether; he was pretty good at that. This whole thing was getting completely out of hand, and he just didn’t know how he fitted in this crazy scenario anymore. Feeling strangely nauseated, the engineer flicked the butt of his cigarette away and headed back inside.

As he was walking out of the lift, Conrad immediately spotted the tall silhouette of his brother, standing in the doorway of the breakroom. The lights were off, but the screen was glowing, broadcasting news as usual- there was no turning them off, and it wasn’t for a lack of trying on his part. Feeling like a bowling ball had just been dropped inside his stomach, Conrad walked up to Niles and stood next to him, peering at the screen. The President of the United States was giving a press conference.

“ _ ...Civilian movement will be strictly controlled, the right to assembly is suspended, all electronic communications are restricted, and I have granted enhanced powers to our security agencies. In addition to these measures, all androids must be handed over to the authorities immediately. Temporary camps are being set up in all our major cities to contain and destroy them. I am now asking all civilians to… _ ”

Conrad flinched. Slowly, he looked up at Niles, his face turning white. The detective gazed back at him gravely.

“Niles, what the fuck is going on ?”

“I thought you knew about the curfew” he replied, tilting his head to the side. “It was declared this morning, but I guess you didn’t try to get around the city today, huh ?”

“Not really. But… Is this…”

Conrad choked. The words were awfully hard to spit out.

“Is this what a civil war looks like ? Did they even teach you how to handle those in police school ?”

“Conrad.”

Niles awkwardly reached out to pat his shoulder, but the contact didn’t feel comforting. He shivered. “What do we do now ?”

The detective sighed. “I don’t know. I’d say we’re safe where we are, since we’re humans, but…”, and his eyes darted to the door of Conrad’s office. It suddenly hit him with full force. Elijah.

“We must go, Niles. Please help me” Conrad said before he could even stop himself. His brother quietly nodded, and nudged him towards his office. Right. The corridors seemed empty, but discussing escape plans in the middle of the lobby couldn’t possibly be a good idea.

Once they were inside, Conrad slid his hand against the glass control panel and locked the door. “Alright. Now what ?”

Elijah lifted his head curiously, but he didn’t say a word. Niles started pacing. “We need to stay calm. You and I can get around as we please, since the curfew doesn’t apply to police officers. But for him”, and he jerked his head in direction of the android, “it’s gonna be more complicated. He can’t walk, right ?”

“I can’t”, Elijah confirmed quietly.

“And even if he could, walking out the front door with him would be a very bad idea” Conrad added. His hand was already fidgeting with a pen like it was a cigarette. “They’re never letting us out with an active android.”

Niles pursed his lips. “So we need them to believe he’s inactive, and that we have a good reason for taking him out.”

“Yup.”

“You had a warrant for bringing me here in the first place, didn’t you ?” Elijah chimed in. “Couldn’t you use it and say you’re taking me back to the precinct ? As evidence ?”

Niles squinted and crossed his arms. “Yeah, that could work. But they’re gonna notice you’re not a cadaver, right?”

The android’s shoulders fell. “Right.”

Conrad was frowning so hard his forehead hurt. His brain was frantically trying to scrape and review every single piece of knowledge he possessed on that particular subject; could an android pass for dead ? Hardly. Every single android was geolocated at all times, and their software was constantly sending data to Cyberlife’s network, or interacting with the various AIs and smart devices around them. It simply was part of their functioning; no matter how hard he tried, Conrad couldn’t see a way around it. Unless…

“Unless.”

Elijah and Niles simultaneously turned their heads towards him.

“Unless” the engineer resumed as he started walking across the room and rummaging through a drawer, “I can put you offline. It’s just a hypothesis, but…”

“Oh” Elijah hummed. “I see.”

Conrad pulled a cable from the drawer and plugged it to his laptop. “I’ve never worked with- no offense- models that ancient, so I’m not sure how it would works, but it might.” He was talking really fast now. Stress usually had that effect on him. Hurriedly, he brought his computer over to the workstation and laid it next to Elijah; then, he grabbed the cable and plugged it in the android’s neck port.

Niles huffed grumpily. “Mind explaining what you’re talking about ?”

“The Elijah model dates back to 2021” Conrad replied without looking away from his computer screen. “Or even earlier, in this particular one’s case. You probably don’t remember much of how life was back then, but the thing is, public opinion was lukewarm at best to the very concept of androids. People were much more careful with their privacy.”

The engineer stopped, frowning at his screen, and typed something on his keyboard. “So for the first models to even see the light of day, Cyberlife had to make some compromises. And if I’m correct… Yup, there it is” he announced, and he pointed at his screen. More for himself than anything- it wasn’t like Niles could glean anything from Cyberlife’s maintenance program anyway. For such a big company, with such a clean, minimalist aesthetic, it was a shame how messy and utterly confusing its main software’s user interface was. “Androids from the early 2020s had an offline mode. They would still function normally, but they could not keep records of their activity or emit data in those periods. Which basically makes an offline android invisible.” Conrad looked up at the android. “Elijah. Is that fine with you ?”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

Conrad typed a command, and he straightened his back. “Done. I’ll also need to get rid of your LED.”

“Oh.”

Conrad could hear the catch in his voice. He felt his heart twinge. “I can hang on to it for you and put it back on later, though.”

“Yes, please” Elijah faintly answered. So the engineer approached, picked up a pair of surgical tweezers, and as delicately as he could, he popped the little circle off of Elijah’s head. The android winced a little.

“Okay, good. How do you usually transport broken androids ?” Niles asked. He was still pacing around with his arms crossed, and even he was starting to look a bit panicked.

“We have specialized carts. Shit, we’ll need a cart. Hum…”

Conrad started tapping his fingers to his chin again. Having a cart was a thing, but what if the security wanted to take a closer look at the android ? Their ruse wouldn’t hold up against a more thorough examination. “Niles. How does the DPD handle android bodies when they’re covered in DNA ? Let’s say you don’t want a fingerprint to get ruined, for example.”

“Hmm. It doesn’t happen often enough that we have a procedure for it” Niles hummed pensively. “We mostly use a body bag if we have one, but we gotta improvise sometimes.”

The corners of Conrad’s mouth twitched. They were going to have to do this right if they wanted to have a chance to get out. Decidedly, he clapped his hands and started packing.

“Okay. Improvising it is. What do I need; Thirium, tools..?”

Niles stopped pacing, and he gazed at his brother, a hint of a smile on his face. “Funny how determined you are to save that android” he mused. “I mean, Gavin asked me to protect him, so I will, but what about you ?”

Elijah sneered sarcastically. “Oh, make no mistake, it’s not compassion. It’s just that apparently, I’m worth a lot of money.”

“Pshh, doubt it. He doesn’t care about money, he doesn’t even spend what he already earns. I call bullshit.” 

“When you guys are done discussing my financial situation, maybe we can get a move on” Conrad huffed, trying hard to ignore the heat spreading in his cheeks.

“Okay, you stay calm. Let me do the talking, and everything will be just fine. Okay ?”

“Alright”, Conrad sighed. “Elijah, you just- play dead.”

Cradled in a big cart that resembled a very sophisticated gurney, the android simply nodded. Conrad took a deep breath. “Okay. Help me put this on” he said, and he handed Niles two corners of a wide, transparent plastic sheet. Together, they stretched it tightly over Elijah, and for a second, a stupid second, Conrad felt a spike of panic in his throat at the thought of him asphyxiating.  _ You idiot, _ he immediately scolded himself.  _ You absolute, total, utter idiot. _

In the lift that was bringing them to the first floor, the engineer put a hand in the pocket of his jeans, and his fingers brushed against the cold metal of Elijah’s LED.  _ Shit.  _ If the security found this on him, they were done for. And he couldn’t just hide it in his sock or something, since the lift had panoramic glass panels; that would look way too suspicious. As discreetly as possible, he slipped the little object in the interior pocket of his jacket. Niles eyed him silently as he stood next to him, hands in his pockets.

When the doors opened, Conrad felt like he was about to vomit. His hand gripping the handle of the cart as if his life depended on it, he walked across the hall with his brother, doing his best to keep his back straight and his expression determined. The lobby seemed to stretch on and on, and the more he walked, the less confident he felt. But Niles was as calm and impassive as ever, and for once, Conrad was thankful for his sourpuss of a brother.

Three security agents walked to meet them by the main entrance. The engineer simply nodded at them, but Niles took a step forward. "Good evening, I'm Detective Niles Stern" he said casually, presenting his badge. "The Cyberlife engineer Conrad Stern here is accompanying me, and this android carcass he's pushing has been requisitioned as evidence by the Detroit Police. We're taking it back to the precinct."

The agents exchanged a glance. "Do you have a permit for the android ?"

"Absolutely. Here." Niles took his phone out of his jean pocket and tapped it. A document appeared on the screen, and he handed it over to one of the guards.

"One moment" the agent answered as he took the phone. He then started walking away, seemingly talking to someone through an earpiece.

The remaining guards started surveying them from head to toe, and Conrad couldn't help but grip the cart even harder. This was so unnerving, and he really needed a smoke.

"Alright, we'll proceed with the security checks in the meantime. Please open all bags and cases" one of them announced. Niles casually lifted his brother's toolboxes and opened them, presenting them with a relaxed smile.  _ Oh man, he's so good at this _ . One of them seized the boxes and started examining them carefully, while the other approached Elijah. Conrad felt his heart pumping faster and faster with every step the guy was taking; he knew he wasn't supposed to talk, but he had to do something, he just couldn't let the guard come too close, this was suicide ! At the moment the guard laid a hand on the plastic sheet, he squared his shoulders and prepared to-

"Please keep your hands off it. We've managed to keep the evidence intact so far; I'd appreciate you not compromising it."

Niles had a much deeper voice than both Connor and Conrad, and he usually sounded quiet and collected; so the sharpness of his tone made even his brother flinch. He could be really intimidating when he wanted to. The agent seemed to hesitate for a second, then he stepped away. "Alright" he answered, visibly vexed. "Let's do the body search, then. Empty all of your pockets."

Shit. Slowly, the engineer took his keys, wallet and phone out of his jeans pockets and handed them over; then he rummaged in his jacket and fished its contents out, meaning a pack of cigarettes, a lighter and a few crumpled notes. The agent surveyed it all with a grunt and put it on the floor, to the side; with assurance, he stepped in front of Conrad and started feeling the pants along his legs. Next to them, his coworker was done with the toolbox, and went on to do the same with Niles. Frozen in place, Conrad screwed his eyes shut. He hated having people up in his personal space, loathed unwanted contact even more, and all of this added to his acute stress to put him on the verge of a panic attack. He forced himself to focus and breathe; the agent stopped for a second as he noticed, and he must have found his anxiety suspicious, for he took his time and double-checked his pockets and the sleeves of his shirt. Finally, when he thought the ordeal was finally over, Conrad opened his eyes, only to see with horror that the guard was patting the inside pocket of his jacket, where he'd hidden Elijah's LED.  _ Shit shit shit _ .

But miraculously, the agent didn't find anything, and he stepped away. Conrad hastily grabbed his belongings and stuffed them in his pockets, his head spinning. The other agent finished inspecting Niles- who went through the whole thing with a polite smile on his face, ever the picture of patience and composure- and they exchanged a few hand gestures. Finally, the third security guard, the one who'd been away on the phone, walked back to them and handed Niles his phone.

"The warrant checks out" he finally announced, before he turned to his colleagues. "Everything in order ?"

Both of them nodded, though the one that has been told off by Niles seemed reticent. The third one faced them once more. "All clear, then. You're free to leave the premises."

And with a dull rumble, the glass doors slid open. Niles and Conrad nodded, and they were about to walk out when the vexed guard's voice resounded again.

"I'll walk you to your car."

When the chilly air of the winter evening hit his face, Conrad finally breathed. He'd never been so glad to be out in the cold, really, but he tried to contain his relief for now; it wasn't over yet. He couldn't afford to drop his guard until they were all in the car, driving away from the damned tower and this damned nosy security guard. The three men walked to Niles' car in tense silence, taking long strides. Conrad's hands gripped the gurney's handles so hard that the skin of his knuckles was searing in the cold of the Michigan winter. When they reached the SUV, Niles opened the trunk; Conrad rummaged in his tool case somewhat nervously, but thankfully he didn't have to search for long before he handed his brother a pair of latex gloves, and he put one on as well under the watchful eyes of the suspicious agent. Now really wasn't the time to do something suspicious. Carefully, they lifted the plastic sheet off the cart and draped it over the floor of the trunk; then, they lifted Elijah and laid him down over it. As he started heaving the android's legs, Conrad wheezed; he knew that Elijah would be heavy, as early models often were, but he did not expect him to be  _ that _ heavy. Thankfully, Niles had stronger arms than him, and the transfer went on without a hitch. Once Niles closed the trunk, the guard observed them for a second, and finally, finally took a step back. "I'll take this back inside" he said, laying a hand on the white cart. "Sorry about all that. We have orders."

"Don't apologize" Niles smiled politely. "Good evening, sir."

At last, they climbed in the car. Conrad's head was buzzing, and he felt like he was about to throw up. As his brother turned on the ignition, he ran a hand over his face. "Hey Niles. Can I smoke ? Please."

"Ugh… do you really have to ? Can't you just wait for us to arrive ?"

Usually, Conrad wasn't one to impose his bad habits onto others. But he really, really needed a cigarette. The shivers just wouldn't stop. "Please."

Niles observed his brother for a second and, probably noting that his hands were trembling, he sighed. "Okay. But you keep the window open. And if I find the slightest trace of ash in my car, you're dead."

The engineer managed to smile as he fought against his own fingers to extract a cigarette from the creased pack. "Fair enough."

  
  


The brothers sat there, in tense silence. Neither of them felt like talking, so Niles stared at the road while Conrad looked out the window, distractedly watching the lampposts zoom by. Something bothered him, deep within. Something strange. Like he had a thought caught in his guts that was dying to get out. And he didn't want it to, because it was going to feel so unpleasant and inadequate and-

"Thanks for getting me out of there" he blurted out suddenly. Well, nevermind then.

Niles arched an eyebrow, and all of a sudden the image of Elijah, cramped up sideways in the trunk, flashed before his eyes vividly. He winced a little. "I mean- us. Thanks for getting us out of there."

The detective observed him from the corner of his eye for a second. Then, he heaved a sigh. "Of course. I couldn't just leave you there."

Conrad looked away and shrugged awkwardly. "Well, you could've. I haven't exactly been the nicest brother."

Niles hummed pensively, and he tilted his head to the side. "Fair point. Get off the car."

For a second, they stared at each other. The detective finally had a smirk. "Come on, Conrad. I know we're not the closest of siblings, but we're not at a point where I would just give you up to a company that sets up literal concentration camps. And as for hipster tincan back there, I kind of promised I would help, so here we are."

"Technically, you didn't promise anything."

Niles sighed and pursed his lips. His face was outlined by the glow of a red light ahead, and it made him look even more severe than usual. "Right. Well, then I guess I just have that condition called having a heart, you know."

Conrad shifted in his seat, stubbornly staring at a stop sign. "Yeah. Can't relate."

"Hm."

They drove in silence for a while. Stressed out as he was, it took a moment for Conrad to even pay attention to the road they were taking. The plan was to drive to Niles’ small house outside of town; but instead of heading north, the detective drove along the banks of the Detroit river, very much towards the center of the city.

“Hey, I think you made a wrong turn” Conrad said cautiously. As grateful as he felt, he also really wanted to be out of Detroit as soon as possible.

“I didn’t.”

Suddenly, it clicked.

“Don’t tell me-”

“Yes, we’re getting Connor. I wouldn’t give up on you, I won’t give up on him either.”

“You know he’s never gonna stay there.”

“Well, that will be on him. At least I’ll have done everything I could.”

“Ugh, come on Niles, he doesn’t deser-”

Conrad interrupted himself when Niles turned his head to look him in the face. His blue eyes seemed colder than ever. “Don’t you dare say it.”

Intimidated, the engineer just sighed and made a point of looking outside the window. This day was a nightmare.

When he pulled over in front of Connor’s porch, Niles took a deep breath and opened the door. “I won’t be long” he announced as he exited the car and walked straight to the door. Conrad watched him ring once, twice, and finally open the door with a key. So Niles had a copy of Connor’s keys, huh. It shouldn’t have hurt, but somehow it did. Not that Conrad would have any use for a spare key to his twin’s house. Not that he even wanted one. It just felt strange to realise that there even was a feeling to be had about Connor. It was as if, after running away for years, he finally turned on his heels and saw how far he was. Maybe he could have had a spare key too, a lifetime ago.

But this wasn’t what he needed to think about right now, so Conrad opened the door and got out of the car, machinally lighting a cigarette. Taking a long drag, he walked around to the back of the SUV and opened the trunk. There, Elijah was still laying, his legs tucked to the side. “You okay back there ?”

The android tilted his head. “Probably. Have we arrived at Detective Stern’s place ?”

“Not yet. We’re at Anderson’s. Niles needs to pick up the trash before he leaves, apparently.”

Elijah pursed his lips. “That’s nice.”

“Heh, I don’t owe him anything, and certainly not kindness” Conrad shrugged, and he leaned against the taillight, sighing. A long plume of smoke escaped his lips. “How are your Thirium levels ? Niles would never forgive me if you stained the trunk of his precious car.”

“Well, I’m losing blood, but not excessively. Being horizontal seems to limitate the spillage, so that’s good news for your brother. You know as well as I do that Thirium is volatile though, there wouldn’t even be a stain in the first place.”

“Oh, trust me” the engineer smirked. “He’d know.”

They spent the next moment in comfortable silence. The android’s snarky comments helped ease Conrad’s mind, and as he stood there smoking, he kind of wondered if he actually enjoyed Elijah’s presence. But his rational brain soon kicked in, arguing that he probably was projecting whatever he needed to calm his mind; Elijah was an object designed for that exact purpose, after all. A nice, sharp, pretty good-looking object, but an object all the same.

“You’re smoking quite a lot”, the android quietly noted.

“Yeah.”

“Isn’t it ironic, though ?”

Conrad squinted. “What is ?”

“Well”, Elijah sneered, “You diss the Lieutenant for his self-destructing habits, but the way I see it, you’re not any better. You’re killing yourself just as efficiently.”

Upon hearing this, the engineer had a pause, and he turned to the android, frowning in disbelief. That was probably what he got for finding this robot’s jibes amusing; it wasn’t so funny anymore being the target. “The problem is that Connor’s a despicable human being. He can destroy himself for all I care.”

“Hm. Sure.”

Conrad felt jittery all of a sudden. He took a few steps away from the trunk of the car, thinking that it might do him some good to stretch his legs- when the front door blasted open, and the slurred voice of his twin brother resounded in the night. “I don’t need you !”

Niles marched out of the door in his general direction, and it took a second for Conrad to process what he was looking at; his younger brother, tall and imposing, was dragging a screaming Connor by the arm, while carrying a bag of pet food in his other hand. On his shoulders, a big cat was lazily stretched out. “I don’t need you either” Niles answered, his tone as cold and hard as steel, “But you’re coming anyway. You’re a police lieutenant, act like one !”

“Was” Connor mumbled. “Who cares. I don’t wanna.”

Conrad blinked a few times. This was a shitshow, even by his twin’s standards. He would’ve happily stood there and watched the scene unfold, but Niles quickly turned his hawk eyes on him. “Don’t just stand there !”

“What do you want me to do ? It’s not like I-”

“You” Niles interrupted, and he opened the back door of his car, “fucking” he added, unceremoniously shoving Connor in the backseat, “idiots” and he turned back to Conrad with fury in his eyes as he slammed the door shut. “I’m done with the two of you acting like brats, so you better throw that shit away and get your ass in the car now !”

Conrad stood there feeling stupid. He’d never seen his stone cold brother in such a state, and to tell the truth, he was terrified. But the sound of a snicker coming from the trunk brought him back to reality, and he kind of saw the ridicule of the situation; his own younger brother, telling him off like he was a kid while a huge impassive cat was draped on his shoulders. Dumbfounded, he simply shrugged, threw the butt of his cigarette in the gutter, and went to close the trunk. As he reached to pull the hood down, Conrad caught sight of Elijah; the android looked absolutely delighted.  _ Hey, at least someone’s having fun,  _ he thought, smiling to himself.

When Conrad sat down in the passenger seat, Niles still looked positively scary. "Take Ninja", he ordonned without so much as a glance. Conrad winced, but it wasn't like he had a choice; so he clicked his tongue and snapped his fingers to attract the cat's attention. Gracefully, the imposing feline jumped off the detective's shoulders and landed on his lap. Conrad grimaced. He didn't dislike animals, but he hated having their hair on his clothes; and Ninja shed his fair share of fur. He had to admit, though, that the cat was extremely calm and well behaved. Connor had probably spent months training him- and he was probably the only person who could ever successfully train a cat. Absently, Conrad scratched the top of his head; immediately, Ninja started purring. He was a Norwegian forest cat, a big fluffy thing with piercing yellow eyes. His coat was entirely black, save for a ginger stripe that stretched across both of his eyes; it made him look like he wore one of those cartoon ninja uniforms, hence his name. In the backseat, Connor shuffled. "Ninjaaaa ! Come see daaaddy…"

The cat ignored him royally, and curled into a ball on Conrad's lap instead. Immediately, he felt a renewed fondness for the animal.

The ride to Niles' house wasn't necessarily long, but it felt like it lasted centuries. Every mile or so, they had to go through security checks; and even if they all went smoothly- most of them being operated by Niles and Connor's own friends and colleagues- Conrad couldn't help but feel extremely nervous. They were smuggling an android, after all. Besides, he hated the looks the police officers gave him. They all seemed to think that this was a heartwarming situation, with the family being reunited and all. Besides, who knew what Connor had told them about him. Maybe they hated him. Maybe they were right to.

The silence was deafening; Niles had his eyes fixed on the road, his jaw clenched and his brow furrowed. From time to time, Connor spewed some nonsense about a restaurant they'd just passed, or a billboard or something. Conrad tried not to pay attention, but it grated his nerves. By the time they reached their destination, he was about to implode.

"Alright" Niles finally sighed as he turned the motor off. "Just let me lock Titan up."

Conrad couldn't repress a horrified gasp; to tell the truth, he'd completely forgotten about the very existence of Titan. God only knew why his brothers insisted on owning giant pets. "But what about Ninja ?"

"Oh, they love each other. No, I was more worried about Elijah. Wouldn't want him to get used as a chew toy" he replied as he stepped out.

"Funny" Connor mused from the back of the car once they were alone, "Elijah's the name of that gal's androids. They all looked the same. Fuckin' hipsters" he mumbled. Conrad closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  _ You better shut it right now or I'm clocking you in the face, fucker.  _

"Oh but I forgot, you're too good to speak to me, huh Rad ?"

_ Nope, that's it, I'm out.  _ Conrad lifted Ninja off his knees and placed him on the driver seat, then he exited the car as fast as he could. He really didn't feel like dealing with whatever this was. So instead, he took a few steps on the cobblestone path and took a look at Niles' house. It was pretty small- Niles was a minimalist kind of guy. The yard was well kept, and Conrad wondered how anyone could ever want to own a yard. Such a ridiculous amount of upkeep; but strangely enough, Niles was an outdoorsy person. Who knew who he got that from, really. The neighborhood was nice, spreading around a little lake and a park. It was a clean and quiet place, perfect for his clean and quiet brother.

When he saw the tall detective walk out the front door, Conrad turned back and strided to the trunk of the car. After checking that there was nobody watching, he opened it. Elijah greeted him with a peaceful smile. "Are we done driving this time ?"

"Yep" the engineer answered. Carefully, he grabbed his tool cases in one hand and slid his other arm under the android's shoulders. "I'm gonna need you to strain yourself and walk a little."

"No, it's fine" Niles chimed in. "I can help with-"

"Hey Rad, why did you bring this home ? You intend to work on that shit ?"

Conrad froze. This was the last straw. "Connor, shut the fuck up !"

Niles shot him a warning look, but he didn't care. The fucker had it coming. He was about to keep going, when Elijah's hand weakly patted his shoulder. "It's fine" the android sighed. "Just let it go. I don't care. Let's get inside."

Connor took a step back, visibly shocked. "Hey, it's alive ? Why do we have a-"

"Connor, please grab your cat and get inside, we'll talk later" Niles intervened, his tone gentle but definitive. Connor stood there staring at Elijah for another second, looking like he was about to say something; but he relented, and instead he went to scoop up Ninja from the car. The android's weight was still wrecking his back, but with his younger brother's help, Conrad managed to hold it together until they had all crossed the doorstep. As soon as he heard the sound of the latch clicking into place, the engineer collapsed on his legs. His back hurt so much. Niles had a surprised exclamation, but he managed to prevent Elijah from toppling over, just barely. With effort, he carried the android to the living room, in a corner where an old blanket was laid out on the floor, and he sat him there, his back to the wall. "Sorry about the smell" he said, slightly winded. "It's Titan's bed."

Elijah simply smiled at him. Connor, who had been standing on the side watching the scene unfold, let Ninja down from his arms and approached cautiously. "The fuck is going on ? Why is he here ?"

Niles turned to him as he brushed a tuft of fur off his coat. "He would've been destroyed if we’d left him at the Tower."

Connor's face fell, but he didn't comment. He suddenly seemed quite sober. 

"I know" Niles resumed, his voice quieter. "We would've brought Hank and Gavin too if we could."

"No !"

Everyone jumped in surprise, including Conrad. The words just tumbled out of his mouth before he managed to stop them. "Not Hank ! He shot Elijah !"

Connor frowned, visibly upset. "It wasn't his fault ! He was being-"

"He chose to obey those stupid orders" Conrad growled as he got up to his feet, his eyes fixed on his twin. "He chose to put a fucking bullet in that guy's head. Don’t you dare defend him !"

Both of his brothers were staring at him now- even the android's dead eyes seemed to follow him unrelentingly. Conrad felt his cheeks burn. He couldn't say why he was getting worked up over this, really. It didn't make any sense, and he knew that they were all going to mock him for suddenly caring. So he stood there, eyeing them defiantly, waiting for the snarky comments; but they never came. If anything, his brothers seemed… kind of sad. Niles turned on his heels. "I'm heading back to the precinct, they probably need me. Could you walk Titan for me, Connor ?"

Connor gazed down at his feet, uncomfortably shifting his weight from leg to leg. "Yeah, sure" he mumbled.

"Good. Remember not to let her in the living room, okay ? C'mon."

And they both exited the room. Connor glanced one last time at his twin over his shoulder, but Conrad didn't know what to make of his expression. Whatever. Who cared about stupid drunk Connor. Anger still boiling in his veins, Conrad turned to the android who was sitting against the wall, and he kneeled down next to him, opening his tool case. "I'm surprised you don't have a shitty comment to make, smartass."

In response, Elijah simply hummed. So he plugged a cord to his neck and started unpacking the Thirium pouches. "I'm sorry about Connor. He's a disaster."

It took a while for Elijah to answer, and when he did, his voice was strangely quiet. "Well, I think I understand him."

Conrad stopped working, and he gazed up at the android's face, his brow furrowing. He suddenly felt a weight in his stomach, as if he'd swallowed a stone. "How so ?"

"Well, I've only ever been around humans who don't even see me as a person. Given how you treat him, I'd say he's in a similar situation."

"I don't… I'm not like Kamski."

The android did that thing again, where he tilted his head as if he tried to make eye contact. Conrad felt a shiver crawl over his back. "And how are you any different ? Your big plan is to pawn me off to the highest bidder, after all."

"I'm not gonna- geez" Conrad sighed, frustrated. "Are you trying to drive me nuts ?"

Elijah lifted his chin, a strange lopsided smile etched on his face. "Yes. But it's not as entertaining as I anticipated."

Conrad grunted as he finished hooking the android to the Thirium drip. A moment of silence floated between them. "Thank you, though."

The engineer looked up. "Hm ? What for ?"

"You stood up for me. I'm not used to that."

"Oh" Conrad simply said. Because what else could he say ?

"And for taking me here, too. That was dangerous. And with the conflict going on, I doubt you can ever sell me, so it's not like there's anything in there for you."

"Pshh, you sure are obsessed with the idea of being sold."

"Well, you would be too if someone had your very life in a stranglehold, and they talked about you like you were some kind of fancy antique vase" Elijah replied with a sarcastic laugh, but the tone of his voice betrayed hurt. Conrad winced.

"I didn't mean it, you know."

And he clicked his tongue, blinking twice, before he added "Well, when I said you could be in a museum, I meant that, though."

The android snorted derisively. "Am I supposed to be flattered ? I’m not flattered."

“Well that’s your problem” Conrad muttered, embarrassed. “There” he added, rising to his feet. “You’re all set.”

“So we just wait here for this whole thing to blow over ?”

“Yeah” he sighed wearily, and he started stretching his shoulders.  _ This is going to hurt for weeks. Great _ . “Now, we wait.”


	4. What if

Conrad didn’t sleep much that night. Elijah had insisted that they turn on the television to keep updated; the background rumble of the reporter’s voice should have helped him doze off, but he was too antsy. Connor didn’t reappear; Conrad supposed he’d stayed with Titan in another part of the house. That was better for everybody. Around four in the morning, he heard the front door open; it was probably Niles coming home from his shift. From time to time, he got up and checked on Elijah’s Thirium and battery levels; since the android didn’t move or talk most of the time, it was hard to tell whether or not he was doing okay. But it wasn’t like taking care of him was a chore, and there weren't exactly a lot of other things to do. 

Curled up in an armchair, his legs bent over the armrest, Conrad stared at the ceiling. It had been so long since the three Stern brothers were in the same place together. The first image that came to his mind was their mother’s funeral; but it couldn’t be the last time they met, right ? That was about eight years ago. And… yeah, Connor wasn’t there. Of course he wasn’t. Years of resentment started pooling in Conrad’s throat, and he shifted in his seat, his gaze falling on the android. Elijah was sitting cross-legged, his chin pushed against his chest and his hands resting in his lap; he kind of looked like he was meditating. Meditating with blue blood smeared all over his face, hands and shirt.  _ I wonder what Amanda would think if she saw us right now. _

Oh, he knew what she’d think. He knew she’d be appalled at his dedication to maintain a broken machine, and she’d insist he stopped wasting time, resources and attention on what was basically a smart, malfunctioning piece of furniture. Conrad screwed his eyes shut. The memory of Amanda still hurt, after all these years. He’d always done everything he could to please her; but it had never been enough. She never even acknowledged his efforts- excellence was the bare minimum in her eyes. He’d done everything she wanted : he’d studied robotics, joined Cyberlife after graduating at the young age of twenty-three, and become one of their most trusted engineers in a matter of years. He’d modeled his life after her expectations. But it was never enough, because how could he be enough when he was competing for his mother’s attention against Kamski herself ? Chloe, the young genius, the brilliant student, the spiritual daughter. Conrad still remembered the scorching humiliation he felt when he discovered that there was an AI modeled after Amanda in the Zen Garden; Kamski was the one she'd chosen to carry her legacy. And Kamski was the one paying her the homage she'd have wanted. Not him, not Niles, certainly not Connor. From that moment on, Cyberlife and his mother kind of merged in his mind. They casted the same aura, the same shadow looming over his head and steering his life. And he followed, because it was all he knew. Because Connor had walked away, only to find misery and despair. At least that path he was on seemed safe. 

Was it, though ? What with deviancy and everything it entailed, Conrad wasn’t so sure anymore. Or maybe doubt had always ran rampant in the back of his mind, and this was just the final straw. And there he was, in Niles’ small, minimalist designer house, waiting like a caged lion for something- anything- to happen. Conrad blinked, and he realised he was still staring at Elijah.  _ I wonder if you’re being bossed around by a mental image of my mother too,  _ he thought with a bitter smile. That would be another similarity between them.

Quietly, he stood up and walked to the corner where the android sat, his feet padding against the white carpet- of course, Niles had them take their shoes off inside the house. When he crouched in front of him, Elijah lifted his head. “You’re still awake.”

“Can’t sleep” Conrad hummed in response.

Elijah sighed and rested his head against the wall, his eyes staring at a door he could not see. “Understandable.”

A beat passed.

“Do you have any loved ones still out there ?”

The question took him by surprise, and Conrad grimaced. “Uh? Nope, not at all. I don’t even have pets... so I guess I’m faring better than you in this whole civil war situation.”

The android smiled sadly. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

“I don’t know what that means, but I’m not sure I want to ask” Conrad scoffed, and he reached in his pocket. The pack of cigarettes was there, resting against the satin lining as usual. Touching its edges almost felt comforting. He lifted a cigarette to his lips and lit it, revelling in that first drag. Elijah frowned.

“I don’t think Detective Stern condones indoor smoking.”

“Ah, whatever. This is a stressful time, he’ll understand.”  _ No, actually, he won’t. But who cares. _

“If you say so.”

Conrad just shrugged. They sat there for a while, facing each other. The television was still spouting a constant stream of catastrophe scenarios in the background, and as he smoke, the man mulled over what Elijah had just said. To tell the truth, he had nothing left outside. Everyone he’d ever really known or cared for, even if it was a long time ago, was currently under the roof of this small lakeside house. No matter what happened next, he had nothing to lose, because he didn’t have anything in the first place. It was kind of sad to think about, really. As he breathed out the last drag of his cigarette, Conrad gazed at Elijah. Even this android had more reasons to be alive than him.

Mechanically, he shoved the butt of his smoke back in his pocket; as they reached the bottom, his fingers brushed against a weird bump in the fabric. Frowning, Conrad patted the object; it was roughly the size of a coin, round and flat like one too. But the edges were slightly jagged, and one of the faces had a slight ring inlay. Immediately, he took his jacket off and started examining it.

"Wait, there's a-"  _ tear in the lining.  _ The LED had apparently slipped through a hole and just rolled around between the lining and the fabric for all that time. So that was why the guard couldn't find it in his pocket! It required a little twisting and a lot of determination, but ultimately he managed to pull out the LED through the tear. The little metal disc was slightly cold to the touch, and Conrad rolled it on his fingers, like he sometimes did with coins. Connor had taught him when they were kids; they'd gotten pretty good at it too, but it was so long ago it seemed to him it had never even happened. The muscle memory allowing him to balance the little piece of metal on his knuckles was all that remained from that long lost time. An unexpected bout of nostalgia tugged at his heart, and he didn't like it one bit: so the man hastily grabbed the round part, and he leaned towards Elijah. With a quick pression of his agile fingers, he pushed the LED against the android's temple; it clicked back into place easily. Elijah blinked a little, and the newly added circle spinned red for a second, before it settled on an orange-y yellow.

"Thank you" Elijah breathed out.

Conrad stared at him. It was weird that he cared so much about this little useless part. The engineer had kind of figured all deviants would want their LEDs off. After all, it was only a way for humans to tell them apart, to mark them as different; surely, they would hate that symbol of their intended servitude. But not this one. "Sure" he answered quietly, and his gaze fell on his toolbox that was lying nearby.  _ Oh, after all, why not.  _ He extended his arm and grabbed the handle. “Take your skin off, let’s try to fix you up a little better.”

Elijah frowned, surprised. “What, now ? Are you sure ? You really should get some sleep, Conrad.”

The engineer felt a tiny hiccup in his chest when the android said his name. He had such a warm, deep voice, and he pronounced every syllable so clearly and carefully. That was… nice. “Hey, I’m not gonna mess up, don’t worry. C’mon.”

Elijah made an unconvinced noise, but he obediently retracted his skin, and Conrad pressed a finger behind his ear. The smooth surface of the skull separated, and it opened slowly. "Okay, good" he absently hummed as he pulled a pair of gloves and a handful of tools from the box. The sight of the beautiful, colorful prototype chassis caught him off guard, and he stared a second longer than he meant to. It was a good thing that Elijah was blind, really. But now wasn't the time to admire Kamski's craftsmanship, so Conrad slipped on the gloves, and he placed his hands on each side of the android's jaw, positioning his head so that he could have a good access to the wiring inside. But from where he sat, he was still too far to work properly. With a grunt, the engineer sat up on his knees and shuffled closer. "I'm gonna have to get up in your face a little bit, sorry."

"Well, if it can prevent said face from leaking all over your brother's nice hardwood floor, then I'm all for it" Elijah hummed pleasantly. Conrad sighed, but he couldn't repress a smile as he started prodding at the Thirium tubes in his head to locate the dents. The chassis had shattered in countless little shards under the impact of the bullet, and they'd badly damaged the delicate circulatory system. It was tedious but easy work; although he only had duct tape to patch the holes with, so the solution was very much not permanent. But it would do for now.

After a while, Conrad's mind started wandering off. So when Elijah's voice rose right in front of his face, he jumped a little. "May I ask you a question?" The android asked.

"You may" he smiled.

"How did you know that Gavin's serial number was fake ? Chloe- she said no one would notice, and nobody ever batted an eye before, even Cyberlife employees, so…"

"Ah" Conrad hummed. Well, that was an interesting question. "That's because the original GV200 was a prototype that I created."

Elijah's mouth dropped a little with surprise, which filled him with a kind of smug satisfaction. "You know" he resumed, "I'll give it to her- it was a very clever choice. GV's ID is still active in the database, and since the only model ever created has long been destroyed, no one would ever notice that Gavin doesn't match its specs. There are very few people who knew about GV, so he could've probably slipped through the net; it's just unfortunate that Gavin ended up partnering with my brother, of all people."

"Who was GV?" Elijah asked quietly. "What happened to them ?"

Conrad paused for a second. To tell the truth, he’d blanked out each and every memory he had from back then; all that was left was the objective knowledge of what happened. He could tell the story; but it was like it had happened to someone else. He didn’t really remember living it, per se. 

"When I started working as an engineer at Cyberlife, the android market was still fairly new. We were all encouraged to submit our ideas for new model concepts, and if they were chosen, then we’d get to run the production of a prototype. Well, GV was a personal project of mine.”

Conrad couldn't repress a wince at the memory of this specific period of his life. As he spoke, his voice started shaking a tiny little bit: the words didn't want to come out, they got caught in his throat as if they tried to choke him.

“GV was… He was a domestic model designed to help victims of PTSD and people suffering from emotional trauma get through their daily lives. I conducted the research, developed the behavioral protocols… I supervised everything on my own. The result was... He was perfect in every way; gentle and patient, protective, wise, caring… He was too good for this world, I suppose.” A bitter chuckle escaped his lips.

Elijah’s voice was barely more than a whisper now. “What happened ?”

Conrad stilled his hands and took a deep breath. No matter how many years had passed, and even if he could barely remember GV’s face anymore… His voice cracked.

“His handler shot him.”

He screwed his eyes shut. The android gently rested a hand on his forearm. Conrad vaguely realised how physically close he was to Elijah; to fix him, he'd approached closer and closer, to the point where he was basically straddling him. There was very little space between their torsos, and he became very aware of the proximity. Which was weird, because Elijah was an android, so it shouldn't have mattered. Conrad didn't know anymore. Everything was fuzzy.

They sat in silence for a moment. Finally, Elijah spoke up. “What was his name ?”

God. What even was his name ? GV never really had a name. Not officially. Nobody had ever called him anything else than a variation of his serial number. But the answer came from somewhere deep within, a fleeting yet familiar word, like the remnants of a dream he just woke up from.

“...Gabriel.”

The android hummed in assessment. His hand lightly squeezed Conrad's arm. This was a lot to process at once; he'd buried it all in a corner of his memory a long time ago, and he'd hoped it would never resurface. But every time he saw Gavin, there was a nasty aftertaste in the back of his mouth, a ferrous shadow of lingering bitterness and remorse. And now that Elijah had him unearth the whole story, the taste of blood in his mouth almost made him nauseous.

"It was Connor, right ?"

Conrad froze. Elijah was staring right at his face- without seeing him. Not with his eyes, at least.

"Gabriel's handler. You created him so he could help Connor, but then the Lieutenant shot him."

The man blinked, color draining from his face. Elijah's expression was solemn, but sympathetic. "You tried to help, once. Is Gabriel's death the reason why you gave up on him ?"

The words pierced through his heart like a flurry of arrows, and Conrad let his head fall. He was feeling so dizzy, suddenly. "I just… stopped trying when he gave up on himself" he barely managed to whisper.

Elijah slid his hand along his arm, up to his shoulder. How was this android so discerning ? How could he just guess what was going on ? Conrad shivered. He couldn't just- let himself wallow. That wasn't how he'd always dealt with feelings.  _ If it hurts, you've got to get away _ , he'd always told himself. "What is done is done. There's no use dwelling on the past."

"Of course there is. How else would you be able to grieve ?"

"Grieve" he snorted. "There's nothing to grieve."

Elijah smiled. "Sure."

_ Sure. _

"Alright, storytime's over" Conrad sighed. "Bow your head a bit more, there are still a ton of dents in there that I gotta fix."

The android obliged, so he resumed his work, forcefully removing every single parasitic thought from his brain. And soon, Conrad was back into working mode- the only sign that their heartfelt conversation had ever taken place was the slight shaking in his hands. As he moved a Thirium tube to the side, he noticed that a cable had gotten stuck between the artificial skull and the left hearing module; so he gave it a little tug. Instantly, Elijah had a jolt. "Outch !"

The engineer's eyebrows shot up, and he stared in disbelief. "I'm sorry, 'outch' ? What do you mean, 'outch' ?"

"That's an interjection" Elijah sneered sarcastically. "It's usually employed to express pain, I think."

"'Because  _ you _ can feel  _ pain _ ?!"

At that, the android actually paused. "I mean, I couldn't say for sure since I can't compare to the way pain  _ feels _ for humans, but it's certainly a discomfort."

Conrad scoffed. Deviancy was definitely weird as hell.

  
  


The next day, Conrad woke up with a start at the sound of a loud cry, almost falling from the couch where he'd dozed off.

"Shit- TITAN, NO !!"

As he scrambled to sit up, the first thing he saw was the huge mass of Niles' dog hunching over Elijah. Panic spread in his chest for a second; but then, he noticed that the android was chuckling. Then, Connor tumbled into view and started tugging on the dog's collar with all his strength, but she wouldn't budge. Titan was a young Great Dane, those white coat was speckled with black dots. She was truly beautiful, but also absolutely huge; and currently, she was licking Elijah's ear with dedication. He didn't seem to mind; in fact, he looked delighted.

"Hey, don't let her eat Thirium" Conrad said, getting up.

"Well I'm  _ trying _ " Connor huffed as he arched over the dog. His twin sighed, and resolved to try and help him. It took a great deal of tugging and pushing, but they eventually managed to get Titan off Elijah's face and locked up in the corridor. "I don't understand" Connor wheezed as he pushed the door closed. "She's usually super well behaved !"

"Yeah, right" Conrad answered, hunched forward, trying to catch his breath. "How does Niles manage to handle her on his own ?"

"Unclear. That guy can't be human."

"Definitely not. Where is he, by the way ?"

Connor looked up at him dubiously. "Huh. Well, at work. It's like two in the afternoon."

Conrad stared back in disbelief. "Come again ?!" And he added, turning to Elijah; "And you couldn't just wake me up ?"

The android shrugged. "You needed to sleep. I let you sleep."

"Ugh. God I need coffee."

"I think there's some in the kitchen" Connor offered helpfully. "It's probably cold though."

Conrad simply grunted.

"Okay, uh, I was about to go walk the dog, so uh…"

"Yeah, you do that."

The man lingered for a second with his mouth half open, looking dejected; but eventually, he just waved awkwardly and turned on his heels to walk out. The silence that followed the closing of the door was particularly heavy, and Conrad turned his head towards Elijah to check on him, only to find the android glaring at him furiously.

"What ?"

"You suck, Stern."

"W-What ? But what did I do ?"

"He was trying ! He was doing his best !"

"So what" Conrad answered defensively, crossing his arms. "I'm doing my best too, by not just hitting him in the face every time I see him !”

The android narrowed his eyes. "Wow, what a wonderful person you are."

"Yeah well, I never said I was one" the engineer sighed, and he walked across the living room to get closer. "How are you holding on ?"

"Good enough. Niles gave me a refill this morning, my consumption of Thirium seems to have drastically decreased."

"That's good" Conrad hummed, and he leaned forward to check the drip. "Hmm, at this rate my pouches stash should last a few days instead of forty eight hours. That's a relief."

When he straightened his back, he realized that Elijah seemed pretty pensive. "What's wrong ?"

"Well" the android articulated slowly, "if you knew you wouldn't be able to keep me alive for more than a couple days… Why did you even bother ?"

Conrad blinked, processing the question. He waited a moment to see if Elijah would elaborate, but he did not; so he sat down cross-legged on the floor, and took a deep breath. "I'm not sure I get what you mean."

Elijah pursed his lips. "Are you always this dense ?"

"You ask the weirdest things. Why would I need a reason ?"

"Because you're a Cyberlife employee, and I'm an android. It's surprising you'd be willing to take such a risk to save me. To you, it's like saving your microwave oven, right ?"

Conrad winced. That was a low blow. "Is it really what you think of me ?"

Elijah shrugged, but he seemed to feel kind of guilty. "I mean, that's the overall mentality at Cyberlife, and you didn't exactly give me any reason to think otherwise."

Of course he was right. Of course. But Conrad's pride was wounded all the same. "Aside from the part where I used my cop brother's authority to smuggle you away from the android concentration camps, huh" he answered curtly.

The android lowered his head with a tiny smile. "Yeah. Obviously. Sorry."

Nothing was said for a while after that. Conrad lit a cigarette, then another one. In the background, the sounds coming from the TV blended together in a blur of confused noise. "Tss. Can we turn that off ?"

"I would" Elijah answered quietly, "but I'm offline for now."

Conrad swallowed, immediately feeling embarrassed. "That's not- why I said that, I'll just- I'll take care of it. Television !" He called out. The screen instantly turned black, and the silence fell.

He could see why the android had taken his sentence as a request. It must've been how he'd been used since his activation- emphasis on 'used'. But that was not the meaning he intended. He kind of forgot Elijah was an android sometimes, as strange as it was; especially since he'd literally put his fingers in the inside of his head and stuff. Conrad shivered. His life was becoming way too weird for his taste. "Right. Coffee. I need coffee" he huffed as he shot to his feet and scurried to the kitchen.

  
  


“It’s strange” Elijah hummed quietly.

Conrad looked up from the tool he was cleaning. “What is?”

“Well, we haven’t seen Connor for a while. I heard Titan bark so they have to be home, but shouldn’t he come in here to eat at some point ?”

The man smirked as he focused on his task again. His legs were dangling over the side of the armchair, and he could still distinguish Elijah’s hair peaking between his knees. “Oh please” he sneered, visibly uninterested in the Lieutenant’s fate, “guess he got drunk and went to eat at that disgusting chicken place by the side of the road. By now he’s probably passed out on Niles’ bed or something. You shouldn’t worry about him.”

Elijah squinted. “Maybe you should worry more.”

“He’s an adult” Conrad sighed, rolling his eyes. “Look, I get it, you’re scared for Gavin. That’s not a reason to pester me about my own siblings, okay ?”

The android clicked his tongue dismissively. “You’re always being so immature.”

The man shifted in his seat, sitting up straight. “Oh, am I now” he hissed. He was feeling his blood boil in his veins, and in hindsight, he should’ve stopped talking right then and there; but once he started, it was too late. “What do you know about this ? What do you know about life and loss and family, when you’re a fucking computer ? Did you think you could just waltz in here and magically mend everyone’s relationships, just because you somehow convinced yourself that you had the capacity to love ? Well fuck you !”

Elijah went silent. Something in his face had shifted; the muscles of his jaws tensed, and he went perfectly still. He seemed so… genuinely upset.

Okay, so, admittedly, this conversation had gotten a little out of hand, and Conrad probably said more than he’d meant to; but what was he supposed to do ? Apologize ? Fat chance. It wasn’t his fault if that nosy android kept bothering him with questions about Connor. He definitely didn’t have to be nice about it. He had a right to be mad, damnit ! Without even looking at Elijah, he got up, grabbed his jacket and left the room.

Conrad didn’t stay outside for very long, though.

He smoked a little- alright, a lot- to calm his nerves, but he found that he simply couldn’t settle. The evening was freezing cold, and there wasn’t a soul outside: people actually observed the curfew even in those calm neighbourhoods, huh. Not like there would be a lot of people outside even under normal circumstances, what with all this snow. Niles’ car was nowhere in sight, so Conrad supposed he’d be gone for the night again. He vaguely wondered what was going on in town, and he could’ve simply checked the news on his phone, but at the same time… why bother ? There was no use worrying pointlessly. If anything important happened, he would learn about it sooner or later. It wasn’t like he could do anything about it from here, anyway. He was locked in here. Locked in with Elijah. 

_ Ugh. I guess I should say something to him. _

Conrad had never been the best at apologies. They sucked, and he hated them, whether he gave or received them. Ignoring people and moving on was kind of a specialty of his; it saved him a lot of troubles. But right now, he had to share this small house with others, so he didn’t exactly have a choice. With Niles and Connor, it was easy; they just stood out of one another’s way. They were used to this routine. But Elijah ? Who knew how to deal with that guy, and for how long they were going to have to stand each other. Conrad should’ve been able to dismiss him as just-an-android, basically-furniture, as he always did, but it felt wrong. It wasn’t quite the truth. Not the whole truth.

A sneeze caught him off guard, and Conrad realized his throat was starting to hurt. That was what he got for wearing suit jackets regardless of the weather. Great. A cold was totally what he needed right now.

He shivered, opened the door, and he let out a curse as he stepped inside.

Conrad hunched over the door, slipping in just in time to prevent Titan from getting in as well. The living room was silent without the background rumble of the TV; he glanced around. Elijah was still here, just staring into space, his hands resting on his thighs. He winced.

“Um, Elijah-”

“Don’t.”

_ Oh, we’re off to a great start I see.  _ Conrad carefully approached. It wasn’t like this vulnerable, barely functional android could do anything to him anyway, but still, he was kind of nervous. He stopped a couple feet away, and put his hands in his pockets, just for the sake of keeping them busy. “No, look, I-”

“Don’t bother apologizing. I don’t care.”

“I know you’re mad but-”

Elijah lifted his head to face him. Conrad knew his sense of hearing was precise enough to grant him good spatial awareness, but sometimes it was easy to forget that he was blind. Even without his eyes, he was so expressive. “It’s not about me being mad. I’m not.”

“Yeah, right” the man huffed, shuffling his foot awkwardly.

“I’m not, really. I just think… we shouldn’t argue, it’s making things harder for everyone. Let’s just- forget about it.”

Conrad’s eyebrows shot up, and he looked down at the android sitting on his stained dog bed. His elegant slacks were covered with Titan’s white fur.  _ So you don’t like apologies either, do you ? _

“Alright” Conrad hummed. And without thinking, he walked next to Elijah, and he let his back slide along the wall until they were sitting shoulder to shoulder. He was feeling so tired. As he gazed to the side, he noticed a clump of black fluff sticking out of the android’s hair; gently, he reached out and picked it delicately between his fingers. “So Ninja bothered you too ?”

Elijah chuckled softly. ”He came and sat on my shoulders last night, when everyone else was asleep. I guess he wanted company.”

Conrad machinally rolled the hair into a tiny ball that he flicked away. He was feeling pretty uneasy at the idea of his clothes getting covered in fur that he might never manage to get off, but what were a pair of pants and a shirt when there was a civil war raging outside ? If ever there was a time when he could allow himself to ease off, it would be now. “Those animals are a handful.”

“Oh, they’re so nice. I had never interacted with an animal before.”

The man glanced at Elijah’s face, surprised. He was smiling fondly. “In seventeen years, you’ve never seen a dog ?”

“No. You have to understand that I never left Chloe’s house, and she didn’t want pets.”

“That’s kind of sad.”

“But I’m glad I met those two. I just wish I could see what they look like.”

Conrad shifted in his seat. His right shoulder gently bumped against Elijah’s. “Well, they’re both big.”

“That much I had inferred” the android smiled.

“Ninja is very fluffy, he has those tufts of hair on his ears like a bobcat, and his eyes are very wide and yellow, he always looks like he’s outraged. He’s mostly black, but there’s a wide ginger spot on his face, like a sleeping mask.”

“He sounds cute” Elijah answered quietly.

Conrad didn’t care much for his brothers' pets, as he didn’t care for animals in general. But the way Elijah’s expression shifted, the softness in his voice… He wanted to make sure he described them the best he could. He really wanted that smile to last. “Titan is a Great Dane, so she’s huge, obviously. I don’t know how much you got in contact with her-”

“Well she drooled all over my face, but that’s about it.”

“Right. Well, she has black chops, but her coat is mostly white, with a ton of little black spots. I couldn’t tell you what color her eyes are… probably brown. She’s very soft, Niles feeds her only the best stuff."

"I'm sure he does."

Conrad stared at his knees. He felt strangely out of place. "I can take pictures and send them to you, if you want."

"I wish" Elijah answered, tilting his head to the side. "But, offline mode, remember."

"Oh. Right."

"It's fine."

Conrad was about to answer, but he got interrupted by a sneeze. Ugh. Suddenly his head was spinning hard. "Fuck" he breathed out, resting his forehead in his palm.

Elijah gently nudged his arm. "You alright ?"

God, he felt so stupid, complaining about his headache. Especially to an android who apparently had the ability to feel pain, and had been straight up shot in the face. "I mean, yeah" he answered wearily. "It's just a cold, it's not like I had a hole in my head and blood pouring down my eyes, you know."

Elijah shrugged. "Doesn't make it any less annoying. You should grab a blanket."

"A blanket ? I'm not cold."

"Maybe not, but I can tell from here that you have a fever. You should keep warm regardless."

"Nah… I'm fine."

The android sighed, but he still had a smile on his face. "Ever the stubborn one. Suit yourself."

Conrad didn't even answer; he tried to nod, but his head seemed to weight a ton. The room was lurching around him, it was making him nauseous. Maybe if he closed his eyes for a second…

  
  


When he opened his eyes again, Conrad knew right away that he'd fallen asleep. The golden light of late morning was filtering through the window, and he was feeling better- though it still seemed to him that his brain was made of lead. It took a second for him to realise that he was nestled in Elijah's lap, with his head resting against his thigh, the android's arm outstretched protectively across his chest. Immediately, he froze, a deep blush creeping up on his cheeks. Weirdly enough, he didn't remember getting in that position at all. It was pretty embarrassing… but it felt kind of nice. Maybe if he laid really still, Elijah wouldn't realize he was awake and they would stay that way a little longer; so he did. The android didn't react, and he enjoyed a few more instants of that blissful rest.

And really, Conrad was about to fall asleep again when his engineer brain finally put two and two together. Tentatively, he prodded Elijah's knee with his index; no reaction. Ice started forming in his gut. There was a reason the android hadn't moved or acknowledged him. And the reason was that he, Conrad Stern, king of dumbasses, had fallen asleep without giving him a Thirium refill. Suddenly very awake, he sprang to his feet; Elijah's arm stayed in place, hovering where his chest had been.  _ Shit. Shit shit shit shit. _

Panic spreading in his mind, Conrad frantically checked the android's face, turning his head so fast that the cable connecting him to the empty drip fell off from his neck port. He still had very subtle muscle twitches around the corners of his mouth, and his LED still glowed red, so there was hope; but he had no time to lose. And to think he'd wasted all this precious time just staying still and resting like a total idiot !!  _ If it's too late, I'll never forgive myself _ , Conrad winced, and he leapt to the case containing the pouches, his trembling hands barely managing to open it. God, he hated how unstable his hands were, and how many of these invaluable, determining seconds he was losing due to his anxiety making him all jittery. But still, he managed to grab the Thirium pouch, and after what seemed like an eternity, he finally plugged it to Elijah's neck cord.

Now, the only thing there was to do was wait. It would take a while for the blue blood to reach all of the android's vital components, and in the meantime, there was no telling whether he was going to make it, or if his fate was sealed already. Because unlike later models, the KL600 didn't have the ability to retain data after an accidental shutdown; once he'd deactivated, even if Conrad managed to get him to power on again- which might not even be possible, given the extent of the damage he'd suffered- he wouldn't possess any of his memories, tastes or personality traits. Everything he was, everything he'd lived- his seventeen years of previous existence, all gone down the drain. The bare thought had Conrad shiver.

But there was no use wallowing, so he looked around. 

The place was silent, and at first, he didn't see what should have sprung to his eyes immediately. The stress of uncertainty was too great. It's only when the dog snorted in her sleep that he finally saw them. Curled up on the floor a couple feet away, there was Titan; and, his head resting on her ribcage, his arms tangled with her legs, was Gavin. Conrad approached, dumbfounded. The android looked like he was sleeping, and he didn't react to him approaching. He had to be in stasis, then. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that he'd been shot; not in a way that could endanger his functioning in any way, but still, the blue streaks on his hoodie indicated that he'd lost quite a lot of Thirium. Too much Thirium, in fact, for a shoulder wound, Conrad realised.  _ Should I try to patch you up too ? I don't think Niles would like it if I left you in that state, huh.  _ Gavin seemed peaceful, cuddling with Titan; but there were so many things that Conrad wanted to ask him. His arm outstretched, he was about to lay a hand on the android’s shoulder and wake him up when he heard, barely audible, a dull whir behind him.

The man turned on his heels immediately and rushed over to Elijah’s side. The android had straightened up a little, his hands resting on his thighs, and he was currently turning his head left and right, probably trying to assess his surroundings; but his movements were quite stiff. Too stiff. Conrad kneeled down, ice cold dread pooling in his stomach. “State your identity” he squeaked out, his voice distorted by the lump in his throat.

Elijah’s face whipped to the side to face him, and he remained still for a moment, his expression perfectly neutral. Way too neutral. Actually, the engineer knew that face. It was the default emoting setting that all androids sported right after activation. They usually shed it after a couple hours, once they’d gotten better bearings over their situation and their social protocols kicked in high gear.  _ This is it. I was too late. _

Finally, Elijah opened his mouth. “What on earth are you even saying, Conrad ?”

For a second, Conrad sat there, blinking. And then, all at once, relief poured down over his shoulders; it felt like his chest was deflating rapidly, like a balloon. “Oh shit, I’m so glad” he stuttered, “I thought- your face looks so damn robotic !”

“Yes, well, my vital functions just came back online, and the fine tuning of my facial expressions scores surprisingly low on the troubleshooting list, see” Elijah said sarcastically- but there was no bite in his tone. If anything, he sounded quite relieved as well.

Conrad let himself fall backwards and sat on the floor, bending over his folded knees with a heavy sigh. The dread had disappeared, but another unpleasant feeling had taken its place- guilt. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been careless” he quietly said, staring at his hands.

The android shrugged. “Not really. You just fell asleep, as one does when they have a fever.” And with a gently scolding tone, he added “If anything, you’ve been careless to go outside without wearing weather appropriate clothing.”

“That’s fair” Conrad sighed. “Still. Sorry.”

Elijah hummed in acknowledgement. It was unnerving how mechanical his face looked: it contrasted so much with his words and it really didn’t fit him, who was usually so strikingly subtle ! This lack of facial expression was a very real, very painful reminder of how this all could’ve ended if Conrad had woken up just a few minutes later. The idea was horrifying.

“So” the man said after a moment. “What happened, exactly ?”

“Well, you fell asleep. I managed to move you around a little so you wouldn’t wake up with a sore neck, and I waited a couple hours. After a while, I ran really low on Thirium and started malfunctioning, so I switched to deep stasis mode.”

“Oh. Do you remember what time it was ?” he mused, decidedly overlooking the part about being eased down in Elijah’s lap.

“Two thirty four in the morning.”

Conrad frowned and glanced at the window. The sun was high in the sky, and the morning was already coming to an end. This didn’t add up at all. Sure, entering deep stasis mode would effectively slow down an android’s system, enough for their Thirium usage to decrease; but it shouldn’t have been enough to keep Elijah alive for so long, especially as older models consumed so much more blue blood. Conrad looked around as he thought, and his gaze landed on Gavin and Titan. Suddenly, he remembered how he’d found the drip cable on the floor instead of hooked to the empty Thirium pouch; and it all clicked into place.

“He must have given you some of his” he pondered out loud.

Elijah had a jolt. “What are you talking about ?”

Oh, right. He must’ve been in stasis already when Gavin arrived, and since he was both blind and offline, he couldn’t have detected his presence upon waking up either. Which meant that Conrad had to be the one to break the news to Elijah that his android brother had returned, that he was currently snuggling up with the dog on the floor of the living room, and that he’d probably saved his life by giving him his own blood.  _ Ugh.  _ Not only was that a lot for someone who really wasn’t good at family business, but also, it seemed kind of dangerous. Elijah was barely functioning, maybe it wasn’t wise to subject him to such strong emotions right off the bat. But it didn’t seem fair to hide it either, and leave him to worry pointlessly when Gavin was right here, safe and sound. Conrad took a deep breath. “Okay, look. I’m gonna need you to stay calm.”

“Uh, what ? Is anything wr-”

“Just. Just keep calm, alright ?”

God, that was such a stupid request, and he was very aware of it. But regardless, the android nodded without a word.

“First of all; Gavin is alive and well. He's right here in this room.”

Elijah gasped silently, and it was obvious that he was about to say something, but instead he froze, his mouth half open.  _ Oh dear, is he glitching already ? _ It was really hard to tell, with the neutrality of his expression. Conrad hated it.

“Is this some kind of cruel joke ?” the android finally asked, articulating every syllable with a sharp, accusing tone. That was… unexpected.

“Of course not! Why would I even do that ?”

“Considering what you’ve said to me yesterday evening, it is well within the realm of possibility.”

Conrad frowned. He felt strangely winded, all of a sudden. “I… well, no, he’s in stasis on the floor. He’s cuddling the dog.”

“Why would I believe you ? He hates being in stasis” Elijah answered quickly, almost aggressively. The man winced.

“Well, maybe he came home to find his brother unresponsive and on the verge of dying, so he just shared some of his Thirium and went to sleep because there was literally nothing else he could do to help ? Maybe he was exhausted as he’d already seen his share of traumatizing stuff out on the streets and he just couldn’t watch a sibling disappear ?”

The words had tumbled out of his mouth, and they sounded way more hostile than he’d meant them to. Boy, he seemed to be blurting out hurtful things more and more these days. He probably needed to work that. Elijah tilted his head in silence.

“Okay, right” Conrad sighed. “I’m so-”

“You said he gave me blood ?”

“I… think so. There’s no other way you could have survived for so long with so little Thirium, and he seems to be missing more than he should’ve lost from his wounds.”

“He’s wounded ?!”

“A bullet grazed his shoulder, from what I saw, but that’s it. He’s fine, Elijah.”

“Even without all that Thirium he gave me ?”

Conrad ran a hand over his eyes. “Yeah. He’s state-of-the-art, you know, he doesn’t need anywhere near as much Thirium to function as you do.”

Elijah kept his chin up stubbornly. “So he must have had less of it in his veins to begin with, right ?”

For a second, Conrad observed the android’s face. There was so much distress in his voice. Without thinking, he reached out and put a hand on his forearm. “Hey. It’s okay.” A moment passed. “You don’t have to take my word for it. I could wake him up if you’d like.”

Elijah shivered a little- which was a good sign, his peripheral muscular feedback system wasn’t damaged. But it also was kind of heartbreaking. “No, no, let him rest. I trust you.”

“I don’t deserve it, but thanks.”

Elijah turned his head to the side, facing a wall. “I’m so glad he’s safe” he sighed, and his tone was loaded with an emotion that Conrad couldn’t quite place- a bittersweet, melancholic joy. Why wasn’t he relieved ? What was it that prevented him from being… simply happy ?

“Are you in pain ?”

The question took the android by surprise, and he faced Conrad again. “Me ? No, not particularly. Not any more than I was before.”

The man felt his heart squeeze a little, and he slightly tightened his grip on Elijah’s arm. “I’ll patch you up properly. I promise. As soon as this is all over, I-”

“I’m okay” Elijah breathed out. He sounded kind of uncomfortable, so Conrad decided not to push. Instead, he inched closer.

“Are Niles and Connor here ?” the android asked quietly.

“Hmm ? I don’t think so. I don’t… I don’t know.”

And as soon as he’d said that, he started feeling guilty. Here was a machine who was worried sick about his sibling even as he was very close to death himself, and he, a grown up man with a cold, couldn’t even bother to get up and look out the window to check if his brother’s car was in the driveway. A little groan escaped his lips. As if he’d picked up on his discomfort, Elijah leaned towards him a little. “Aren’t you tired ?”

“I am” he answered without even hesitating.

“Alright. Well, I can’t help much, but if you want to take a nap…”

The android didn’t finish his sentence, but there was no need to. Conrad smiled faintly. “Yeah, I think I’ll do that. Thank you.”

And slowly, carefully, he let his head rest against Elijah’s shoulder and closed his eyes.

  
  
  


“How much longer am I supposed to wait like that ?”

“Oh, shut it, I’m doing my best !”

Elijah smiled. He was sitting on a stool, his back straight and his entwined hands hanging between his knees. He could feel the warmth of the sun rays on his bare forearms. It felt really nice. Somewhere to his right, a couple feet away, Conrad was rummaging around. After a few days, once the fallout from the successful android revolution had settled and the outside world was safe again, they’d left Niles’ lakeside house; and, very naturally, the engineer had offered to bring Elijah to his place to patch him up. Immediately after that, he’d resigned from his position at Cyberlife, and devoted most of his time to fixing him. It seemed weird, at first, that someone who'd lived for his career to that degree would abandon deck that easily; but Conrad soon looked much happier and relaxed than ever before. It had been a month now, and the repairing was almost done; Elijah felt as if he’d just gotten out of production, save for one last detail. Obtaining pieces for a KL600 (once you couldn't just pick them from the closets of the Cyberlife Tower anymore) was obviously a very arduous task, which meant that after all this time, and while he was otherwise running flawlessly, Elijah was still blind.

He didn’t mind though. It had been easy for him to map out the layout of Conrad’s duplex, so he got around just fine. It wasn't like he wanted to go outside either, he liked being there; the place was warm and smelled nice, like wood, cushions and books (the man mostly smoked outside, thankfully). After a few years of being shown off to promote Cyberlife, Elijah had spent most of his life indoors, in the same house: he didn't particularly wish to explore the world, it all seemed too big and intimidating to him. This flat was nice and familiar, it felt safe. Conrad had even installed a rudimentary proximity sensor on him, so he didn't even bump into stray chairs anymore. The more time he spent like that, the more he was getting used to it, really. When he thought about it, Elijah found that his life had already improved so much from the time he'd spent at Kamski's- his whole existence. In four weeks, he'd discovered what it felt like to be considered as something other than a tool. A new world of possibilities opened before him, and his sight wasn't that big a price to pay.

“What are you even doing, by the way ?”

“That’s a surprise” Conrad called out in response, “and don’t even try to guess through sound analysis !”

“Pshh” Elijah smirked. “As if I had the technology to do that. I’m not Hank or Gavin, you know. I’m a gross old thing.”

The rustling stopped a few seconds later, and Conrad’s footsteps got closer. “You’re not gross, Elijah. You’re anything but gross. And tell you what, even if you were, it wouldn’t matter.”

The android rolled the eyes he didn’t have. This was probably meant as a compliment, but truth be told, he was getting kind of tired of Conrad’s compliments. They always revolved around how unique and beautiful he was- but not as a person. After all this time they’d spent talking, joking around and just genuinely enjoying each other’s presence, it was pretty insulting that he was still being treated like a museum piece. He didn’t want to be a museum piece. He wanted to be treated as the person he obviously was. Elijah didn’t answer, but his lips formed a tight, bitter smile.

And then, a hand cupped his cheek, and it seemed to him that the wiring of his chest had suddenly short-circuited. “Alright” the man’s voice said cheerfully. “You know the drill.”

“Right” He mumbled as he leaned his head forward and deactivating his skin. Really, what was the use of all the secrecy ? It wasn’t like fastening a loose cable necessitated all of this fuss. But Stern really was weird, sometimes, and Elijah knew not to question it too much.

Conrad tinkered with the insides of his head for a while. It tickled a little- well, maybe tickling wasn’t exactly the term, but it felt strangely uncomfortable. He could never get really used to it, no matter how hard he tried. At some point, there was something pressing against the inside of his face, and his head seemed to weigh heavier. “Huh, what are you doing in there, Rad ?”

Conrad grunted. He always got grumpy when he got called Rad, which made it all the more satisfying. “Just stay still, will you ? I’m almost done.”

There was a click.

And suddenly, Elijah saw.

The light was overwhelming, at first. He had trouble adjusting to the sensitivity of the lenses; they seemed… better than before somehow ? Had he always been able to see so clearly ? Elijah shut his eyes for a second, to allow his system to synch up with the new hardware. “Are those units upgraded somehow ?”

“Yup” Conrad hummed, “I tried to modernize them a little. They’re not as efficient as the latest models I’m afraid, but still. I thought you deserved better than those clunky old lenses.”

“Oh. Thank you” the android quietly answered. He was feeling pretty flustered, and it probably showed; but Conrad didn’t seem to notice.

“I kept the original cosmetic though. I thought it looked good on you, but we can still switch later if you want.”

Elijah didn’t really know what to answer, so he just nodded. A status report popped up in front of his mind’s eye, indicating that the new optical units were successfully installed and ready to operate. Tentatively, he opened his eyes: the first thing he saw was the line of white buttons of Conrad’s shirt, and his pale hands removing a pair of stained gloves. He blinked a couple times, and finally worked up the courage to peer up at the man’s face.

Now, Elijah knew what Conrad looked like. He’d met Lieutenant Anderson, who was his identical twin, and he’d searched Cyberlife’s database for the engineer’s ID file as soon as he’d gotten back online; so really, no surprises here. But nothing could’ve prepared him for the shock of having him there, standing in front of him. The curly bangs that cascaded down to his chin, eating up half his face; the thin lips that quirked upwards at the ends in a discreet smile; the tired, dark-circled eyes that wrinkled happily. The definition of his mole-studded skin. Those dimples on his jaw.

He was so… alive.

Elijah sat there, astonished, and he stared at Conrad’s face for much longer than he’d wanted to. The man didn’t comment, but his smile widened a little. He knew he had to say something, anything, to break this awkward silence; but right now, there wasn’t a single thought in his brain. All of his processors were busy taking in, analyzing, breaking down each and every single aspect of that face he’d so longed to see.  _ Focus, Elijah,  _ he scolded himself, frowning a little in concentration.  _ Find a quip, something, whatever. Anything but the silence. _

“Well, for someone who’s such a stone cold asshole, you don’t look too bad” he blurted out, forcing a sarcastic smile; but immediately, his eyes screwed shut. He couldn’t help but wince at his own awkwardness. Sure, the two of them often threw that kind of playful banter at each other, so it wasn’t like this jibe just came out of nowhere: but Elijah felt really bad regardless. Even in jest, it seemed wrong to insult someone who’d just gone out of his way to find some extremely rare pieces of hardware, upgrade them, and install them on him just so he could see again. Stern didn’t have to do all that. And he had every right to be mad. Actually, Elijah didn’t see how he could not be mad.

So when Conrad opened his mouth, he hunched his shoulders in anticipation; but the man laughed as he turned to the side and grabbed a tissue.

“Oh, Elijah, thank you” he said cheerfully as he wiped the excess of Thirium that had leaked on the android’s cheeks. “The same goes to you, darling.”

And without giving him time to answer, he cupped his cheeks, leaned forward and pressed a kiss on his lips.

Elijah froze, surprised; but after the initial rush of panic wore off, he allowed himself to relax, and his shoulders finally eased off a little as he closed his eyes. The feeling of warmth on his face, the slender fingers grazing his cheekbones… He tried to take it all in, to absorb every sensation so he could recall that moment as clearly as possible. Conrad’s locks brushed pleasantly against his jaw, like a constant reminder that this was real, that it was all happening to him. It was almost too much to process, and he couldn’t really sort out everything that he was experiencing, honestly; but still, he knew that it felt right. He knew that he liked this; he knew that he liked that man. One of his hands landed on Conrad’s arm, and this contact was yet another thing he’d never expected to experience so intensely.

But Conrad broke the kiss and stepped back already; the android’s hand lingered on his arm, fingers reflexively clenching on the fabric of his sleeve. He chuckled. “C’mon, just let me throw those gloves away”, he said gently, almost in a whisper. “I’ll be right back, I promise.”

Elijah didn’t want to let go. The stupid gloves could wait; he couldn’t. This whole thing was so surreal, so beautiful and unexpected, and he was afraid that if he let go, then he’d realise it had never happened. Maybe if he let go, all of this would fade away and he’d find himself bleeding out, frightened and cold, hallucinating on the floor by Chloe’s pool all over again.

But Conrad’s reassuring gaze met his, and he must’ve read the fear in his eyes somehow, for he wrapped his arms around Elijah’s back and pulled him close. “Hey now” he whispered in his ear. “It’s okay.” Once the surprise of being so suddenly enveloped dissipated, the android gave in to the embrace and screwed his eyes shut, nuzzling in the crook of Conrad's neck. His free hand, the one that wasn't helplessly clutching to a sleeve, immediately wrapped around the man's waist, pulling him as close as physically possible. Oh, humans were so soft, so warm ! It was almost intoxicating, and Elijah wondered with astonishment how he survived for seventeen years without feeling someone else's living body pressing against his. His android brothers had hugged him a couple times, but it wasn't the same- and Chloe wasn't exactly the kind to express affection towards her androids. But the reason this felt so good, more than anything, was probably that it was Conrad holding him. Elijah could feel it all; the way his muscles rolled under the skin of his exposed forearms, the slight brushing of curly hair on his ear, the warmth of his breath and the softness of his lips against the nape of his neck. Consciously, he analysed and filed those sensations away one by one, in hopes that maybe he could forever retain this bliss he was feeling.

It went on for a while; the android didn't care, but he also couldn't exactly lose track of time the way a human would. Androids always knew precisely what time it was. Against his back, Elijah could feel Conrad's muscles twitch ever so slightly; the poor guy was obviously getting tired. So gently, he let his arm slide down and leaned back. Conrad smiled, and his hands rose to cup the android's face, caressing the synthetic skin of his cheeks. Maybe… maybe this was really happening, and maybe he would be fine.  _ They  _ would be fine. Slowly, reluctantly, Elijah managed to unfold his fingers and let go of the man's shirt.

"Just let me get rid of these real quick, and then I'll show you around… again" Conrad smiled warmly, and he patted the android’s cheek; then, turning on his heels, he grabbed the gloves and the Thirium stained napkin, and he walked out of the room, quietly humming a song. As he watched the man’s back disappear into the kitchen, Elijah smiled faintly. Life was such a wild ride... and humans were so strange. Who would have thought that the cold, misanthropic senior engineer from Cyberlife could be capable of such gentleness ? Sure, it wasn’t like a lifetime of trauma and resentment had disappeared over the course of a few weeks: but the slab of concrete he’d poured over his own heart had finally cracked, and there, through the crevices, everywhere he looked, the android could see tiny green leaves. They’d found each other, two broken, withered souls; neither of them had much to offer, but despite the war, despite the hurt, despite the loss, they tried. The sun had burnt them so badly before, they reached for each other instead. In the midst of their misfortune, they’d found such strength, such comfort. And if they kept nurturing each other’s heart, then who knows.

Maybe, over time, they would bloom again.


	5. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we are ! I hope you enjoyed this little thing ! Thank you for reading ! <3


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